Corporal vs Federal Agent with good hair
by AgentTiva
Summary: It's a love triangle between Corporal Damon Worth, Tony Dinozzo and Ziva David. In later chapters a love triangle between a new character named Jim, Tony and Ziva. Who will she chose?
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone. I am so excited to start a new story because I have been working on this other huge story. Though it is long I don't think it was very successful, so I am writing a new idea that has been begging to be written. I am planning to make this a very short story, but you never know with a writer. For my readers I hope you enjoy this story. Thanks **

**Agent T**

**Narrator **

Agent Ziva David sat at her desk as she would any other day. Her partner Agent Tony Dinozzo sat across from her. The tapping of his eraser on the huge stack of paperwork he was not working on was the reason for David's sudden interest in the strange noise she heard. She starred into two beautiful emerald eyes that were watching her every move.

"What?" She asked with a sharp tone, and a hint of an Israeli accent escaping with the word.

Tony did not answer, so Ziva simply gave up and returned her concern to her never ending stack of paperwork. The tapping stopped for a minute, but then began again. This time the tapping came with more speed and anger. Ziva looked up again only to be shocked to find that Tony had moved from his desk to hers and was now tapping on the edge of her desk.

"Tony. What?" Ziva asked wondering what could possibly be bothering Tony so much as to make him act this way.

"Are you?"

"Am I what?" Curiosity burned through Ziva's veins as she wondered of what Tony's question could mean.

"You know what."

"No Tony I don't." Ziva said throwing her arms out to give her words a dramatic effect.

"Are you dating Corporal Damon Worth? I saw you two talking pretty comfortably yesterday."

"You were spying on me."

"No. I was investigating."

"What were you investigating? My social life."

"I was protecting my partner." Tony challenged, but he had chosen the wrong person to challenge.

"From what?" Ziva's voice jumped an octave.

"Never mind." Tony had left her desk and crossed the bullpen to his desk.

Tony hated paperwork and he would do anything to get out of doing it. He had been angry all week for Ziva's enthusiasm on Corporal Damon Worth, a man who could completely destroy him with his biceps. Dinozzo didn't stand a chance against the 'underwear model' as Tony had referred him as at an earlier time. A burning jealously was a wild fire spreading throughout his body, burning every inch of him. His toes, ears, mouth and nose. There was no escape from his internal inferno. This burning could only be numbed by Ziva David; his passion for life that exceeded natural amounts for this lovely creature. Tony's one reason, only reason, to kill a Corporal if it came to those extremes. He was obsessed with giving her happiness that if he had to give up his life for her to live he would accept it in a heart beat. Tony returned to his desk and unwilling started to decrease the pile of files in front of him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello everyone I am very excited on how this story will turn out. I would like to say that I hate Corporal Damon Worth, and he doesn't deserve Ziva at all, but if you want to see who ends up with Ziva your just going to have to keep reading. **

**P.S I hope she chooses Tony, but you never know.**

**Agent T **

Special Agent Timothy McGee was losing his touch. His laptop screen was blank with a blinking cursor. All he could think about was Abby's sudden interest in this guy named Jeffery Taco Bell. _Who has a name of a fast food restaurant?_ Abby Sciuto was forensic specialist. He thought to himself how Abby could even pay attention to that guy. Than again, Abby was Abby. Her beautiful Goth appearance was only one reason for McGee's secret crush. This secret crush was one Abby shared, but only when McGee had a new girlfriend. McGee sat at his desk having a sudden urge to write, but every time he opened his Word Document he lost his idea. McGee had been so concentrated on his story he hadn't noticed Tony's eraser tapping. McGee ignored his blank screen for a moment to watch as Tony rose from his desk and walk over to Ziva's. She was filing out paperwork at high speed. Tony bent down on his knee and started to tap again. Harder this time so she would look up again. Tony was showing such childish behavior McGee couldn't help, but roll his eyes. McGee heard there conversation, and slowly realized the reason for Tony's behavior. He was jealous, and Ziva had absolutely no idea. It was the perfect start to a sequel of 'Deep Six.' Special Agent Lisa has a crush on a complete stranger. Special Agent Tommy becomes angry, and violent. When Agent Lisa and the stranger hook up Tommy becomes very angry.

Tommy starts following agent Lisa with the excuse of, "I trying to protect my partner." Though it is very obvious he is deeply disturbed of this new relationship. When Agent Lisa's new boyfriend becomes violent with Agent Lisa, Agent Tommy bursts through the door to her rescue. This was more like the story of my life. As the team sat finishing their paperwork their boss, Special Agent Gibbs arrived with a cup of Starbucks coffee in hand.

He strode into the bullpen stating what would be their case, "Five dead marines. Gear up." Tony's head snapped up, "Five!?!" Gibbs only answered him with a stare that could make a naval ship take a dirt road.

The team geared up strapping their guns to their waist and entering the elevator in record time. Special Agent Gibbs, boss to his employees, was a very quiet but direct man. He needed everything done in a short period of time with the highest quality given. Gibbs was a sad man, but didn't show his angry lose or pain. This pain was caused by him losing his only daughter, and losing his beloved wife. When the elevator doors opened the team stepped out into the NCIS garage lined up with the same blue cars. Gibbs had the keys and led the way.

"Boss, where're we going?" McGee asked hoping it wasn't far because he had eaten a very big lunch and he has a weak stomach.

"Naval Base."

**Two Hours Later**

"Ah, I really shouldn't have had that bean burrito." McGee said rubbing his stomach as he wrote down details of the crime scene.

"What's the matter McFarty not feeling well?"

McGee only rolled his eyes and walked away from Tony's pending question. Ziva was snapping pictures and Tony thought this was the perfect time to bring up there earlier discussion.

"Hey Ziva."

She snapped another picture then turned to look at him.

"Yes?"

"I… I… I'm sorry about earlier-, "Ziva cut him off mid sentence.

"It's alright Tony, and to answer your question no I'm not exactly dating him."

"What do you mean not exactly?"

"Well, I do find him attractive and strong; but he's just another guy. His hasn't proven to me that he wants what I want."

Tony couldn't help but ask her this last question, "And what is it you want?"

Ziva only gave him a curious look, the same look she had given him in the lady's bathroom when Tony had been jealous of 'The Texas Long Horn.' Tony had no choice, but to finish a few interviews, and head back to the truck and inform Gibbs of his findings. He hated leaving Ziva ever since…

**Hello everyone again, I have no internet on my computer so I am using a different computer, but its super old and slow. I was going to add a chapter yesterday but I lost internet. My computer has been so mean to me these past few months. So, while I get it fixed it's going to take me a while to get chapters up, but I'm still going to be posting. I hope you like the story. Thanks for the reviews. I love your thoughts. Thanks again.**

**Agent T**


	3. Chapter 3

**I HAVE INTERNET! Yay! I am going to be writing a lot more than I expected. I just finished the last chapter for my other story, so now I am just going to be focusing on this story. Thanks for the reviews and enjoys.**

**Agent T**

Corporal Damon Worth stood outside of Ziva's apartment waiting for Ziva to be ready.

"Women." He whispered. Ziva had been waiting anxiously for the day to past by so she could go on her date with Damon. She had started to call him by his first name. She hated lying to Tony, but he would just give her a hard time at work. He would tell her that Damon was too much of a womanizer for her, or not the right guy. She didn't want to have to deal with all that so she simply kept it to herself. Tony would have been right Damon Worth was not a good guy. He had secretly been working behind Ziva's back with her father, Eli David. Eli David, the director of Mossad, had paid Corporal Worth to involve Ziva in a personal relationship to keep Agent Dinozzo away. Eli David had seen a strong bond between Agent Dinozzo and his daughter and he didn't want that bond to become any stronger.

"Hello Damon." Ziva said as she walked over to plant a kiss on his right cheek.

"Hello Ziva. Wow, you look _amazing_." He emphasized the word amazing, which was a huge lie. He didn't care about the little beautiful black silk dress she wore, and the lovely black high heels that looked like they fit her feet so perfectly you'd think they were sewn on.

"Shall we?" He asked taking Ziva's arm and wrapping it around his. They walked intertwined to this new Jazz Night Club in downtown. There were white Christmas lights hanging over the electric wires, but it wasn't Christmas. Ziva was having a lovely time walking and enjoy the night air, but Damon was faking his joy. He'd rather be taking Ziva to bed. If only Ziva knew what he was thinking she would have ended him with a gun shot to the face. She had been feeling a bit guilty for telling Tony a lie, and that would have been the only reason to feel sad on such a beautiful night. It had only taken them a total of ten minutes to make it to the Jazz Night Club. Damon opened the door for Ziva and she walked in shooting a smile in his direction. The room was dark. Lit only by candlelight chandeliers placed over every table. There was a waitress with dark black hair and glasses.

"Table for two?"

"Yes." Damon answered. When the waitress started to lead them to there table Damon was such an ass, that he snuck a look at her bottom when Ziva was observing the club. She loved the dim light setting and the soft music playing in the back round. On the way to their table Ziva looked to her right, and found a reason that would spoil the rest of her evening with Damon. At the far back corner sat Tony. It appeared at first he was alone, but once they made it to the far corner of the club Tony noticed them. He couldn't be sure if it was Ziva or not, but wasn't going to leave with the doubt. He stood when the waitress past him. He stood in front of Damon and Ziva.

"Hey Ziva." He looked over Ziva from head to toe. He was in astonishment by her beauty. Tony's jaw had actually dropped a bit, and quickly closed it when he realized Damon standing next to her. He felt betrayed. Ziva had lied to him.

"And Corporal Damon Worth." Tony spokes the Corporals name in disgust. The waitress had turned around and was wondering why her party had stopped.

"Um, would you like to share a table?"

"Yeah, sure. Why not?" Tony said. It took a while for Ziva to accept the offer, but in the end she agreed.

The waitress left the two menus on the table when Ziva and Damon had been seated in front of Tony who had a stare that could scare the lock ness monster. Ziva looked at Tony who only looked back at her. She could tell he was angry, and this only made her feel worse about the lie she had told him, but she didn't show it.

"Nice place." Damon said trying to break the tension.

"Yes, it is. Isn't it Ziva?" Tony asked, which actually meant, '_Why the hell did you lie?'_

"Yes it is." Was all Ziva could manage to say before the first performance began.

**So hope you guys are enjoying it. I know I am enjoying writing it. The ideas are just flying threw my head. Thanks again to my fans.**

**Agent T**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey everyone, I have to say I am speechless. I can not believe how well this story is turning out. I'm not to sure how this chapter is going to do, but I hope you don't think its trash. I know I haven't posted a chapter in a while, but with school it's really hard. I'm trying my best to get chapters put together and posted but I'm only human. Darn. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Thanks to my readers I love your feedback.**

**P.S The IPOD part is true. I won an IPOD. **

**Agent T**

Ziva twisted nervously in her chair as two violinists finished their duet. She wasn't really paying attention to the acts, but to Tony's piercing eyes. He never seemed to stop glaring at her. Tony was so hurt by Ziva. He didn't want to let her see that pain, so he turned his hurt into anger. The dim lights in the room became brighter signifying the performances were done for the night. The trio had been sitting for almost two hours. Tony and Damon had been speaking very sarcastically throughout the performances. Damon would say a few comments that angered Ziva, but she silently bit her lip. They had finished their meals, and Ziva was anxious to leave. Damon could see Tony's interest in Ziva, and wanted to prove that he was the 'ruler' of Ziva. When Ziva turned to retrieve her coat from the back of her chair Damon leaned in, and when Ziva turned forward again she was immediately grasped in an inescapable hold. Damon crushed his lips to Ziva's lips. There was a soft gasp, which came from Tony who like Ziva was stunned by the action. Tony's anger was a wildfire. He swiftly grabbed his coat, and sprinted for the door. Ziva didn't see him for two days. He had called in sick, and wasn't answering his phone. Ziva was starting to worry. On the third day Tony walked in was a bright smile. He started his usual routine of turning on his computer and bugging everyone else in the bullpen while he waited.

"Guess what Probie." Ziva looked up at the nickname, but soon discovered he was addressing himself to McGee.

"What Tony?" McGee asked uninterested.

"I won an IPOD, I won an IPOD!" Tony chanted this phrase over and over like a little child.

McGee showed a little bit of interest this time.

"How?"

"I entered in some contest…, but I won an IPOD."

Ziva was staring at Tony, but he never looked at her once. He was angry and hurt. Tony was scared that if he looked into her eyes his secret would be revealed. Ziva was determined to fine a time to speak with him. She hadn't slept well in a full two days due to the horrible guilt she felt. Although, she knew she deserved this torture. Ziva had been so cruel to Tony. Gibbs walked in holding his cup of coffee.

"What do ya got?" Tony explained his findings, then McGee. Ziva didn't speak until they were done. Tony had told Gibbs of an abandoned house the five men had all visited in the last month.

"Tony take Ziva go to that house, tell me what ya find. McGee you're with me."

Tony sighed, and Ziva knew this wasn't going to be easy. Once in the privacy of the car she started to build up her strength to apologize. It wasn't working. She felt so weak and pitiful. She felt as if she had just been caught stealing a candy bar from a gas station.

"Tony." She whispered terrified that he might tell her to shut up. She wanted him to listen, and to understand how she felt. Tony only glanced at her from the corner of his eye. Ziva didn't say anything else for the whole ride. It was about forty five minutes later when they arrived at the house. The windows were foggy, and the shingles were falling. The white paint had slowly started to turn a black color.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Ziva said in a very strict voice.

"Come on." Tony said leading the way up the two stairs in front of the door.

"Don't we need a warrant?" Ziva asked, already knowing the answer. Yes. Tony didn't answer he only opened the knob. The door creaked open signifying the door hadn't been opened in a while which was not surprising.

"Tony." Ziva called uneasily, but he ignored her. She reached for his arm, and he shrugged out of her grasp. They both walked into the house. There was a little light shining in threw the windows enough to let them see where they were going.

Ziva suddenly spotted a man in a dark coat standing to her left side in what appeared to be the living room. The room smelt of chlorine water and dust. The man with had a two inch long scar going down from his eye brow to his mid cheek area. He quickly raised a gun, and pointed it towards Tony. Tony was oblivious to the fact that he was about to get shot. Just before the man fired Ziva pushed Tony out of the way, leaving her in the trajectory of the bullet. Tony ran into the wall face first then landed on the floor. He moaned a few times until he heard the most dreaded sound. _Pop._ One gunshot was fired. _Pop._ A second gunshot was fired. Tony stood up on his feet and drew his weapon. It was too late. The man was gone. He fled escaping through the window.

Tony aimed his gun out the window trying to get a good aim,"Ziva you alright?"

There was no answer. Tony held his breath as he realized Ziva's sacrifice. He had heard two gunshots, but the man hadn't been shot. He turned around to face Ziva, and understand the reason for her silence. Ziva was on the floor unconscious. She had been shot.

**Will she live or will she die? Please let me know what you think. I already know where I want Ziva to be shot. I didn't write it in this chapter, but it will be in the next. Thanks again for the reviews. Hope you enjoyed another chapter of imagination.**

**Agent T **


	5. Chapter 5

**Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. I have received lovely reviews on my story, but people are freaking out thinking I might kill Ziva off. First of all I had already made up my mind on were Ziva would be shot when I posted chapter 4 and me kill off Ziva, NO WAY! Lol. Ziva so belongs with Tony, but then there's Damon. Who will she choose? Hopefully Tony. I would hate for any one of them to die. So don't stop reading. I hope you enjoy another chapter of fantasy. Thanks again to my readers and reviews I love your thoughts.**

**Agent T **

Ziva had been shot in the elbow, and the other bullet had missed. She was in shock. Tony placed his weapon back on his waist and bent down on his knee.

"Ziva!" He reached for his cell phone, and discovered he had dropped it when he fell. The phone lay shattered in pieces on the floor. _Damn it_.

"Ziva you're going to be fine!" Tony attempted to sooth Ziva, but she was fully aware of the situation he was in. Tony searched for Ziva's phone and suddenly realized where the second bullet had hit. There was a metal bullet sticking out of Ziva's cell phone, but the phone had protected her from being hit.

They were in the middle of no where and Ziva was wounded. They had no means of communication. Tony was Ziva's only way of survival. Ziva had been processing all that had just happened. She felt everything had gone so fast. Then she remembered drops of sweat falling down her faced. The sweat was mixed with dark drops of blood. Somalia, Africa. Salem was a man she feared. A monster she hated to see. Though she wished she could throw the thought away Ziva was being pulled into the memory like a black hole was sucking her whole body into it. This man had saved her. Tony had saved her from the monster. Her arm throbbed and she let out a high pitch screech. Ziva made an effort to raise her arm, but the joint had been shattered. She could have recovered quickly, but her body sent her into shock. Ziva started to shiver. Tony was faced with another problem. He ripped off his jacket and wrapped it around her, but the single coat was not enough so he took off his shirt. Ziva felt a jolt of joy as another wave of pain hit her arm. She did not enjoy the pain, but the sight of Tony's semi-muscular body. He tossed the shirt onto her and the collar fell under her nose. She could smell the sweet fragrance of his very expensive colon.

"Ziva I'm gonna get you out of here." He swiftly picked her up and carried her out the front door.

He set her in the passenger seat as gently as he could then sprinted for the driver's side. Tony had gotten goose bumps, but was too afraid for Ziva to notice the cold. He set the car to four wheel drive and hauled ass.

"Ziva I'm so sorry. I should have listened to what you said, about your bad feeling." Tony's voice was shaking. He had never been placed in such a difficult position before. Ziva could hardly breathe from the pain, but every time she wanted to scream in agony she bit her cheek until it bleed. She didn't want Tony to worry any more than he already was. He was driving and she didn't want the nerves to cause him to crash. Ziva's body flopped up and down as they went over a rough road back to the city. Tony kept his eyes on the road, and would occasionally look back at Ziva. On the third look he noticed Ziva looked paler then before. _Crap._ He thought to himself. Tony hadn't put any pressure on the wound and Ziva was bleeding so badly that her arm looked like a leaking faucet. Tony leaned over and grabbed her arm with his right hand while keeping the left on the steering wheel. He gripped her arm tightly. After fifteen minutes of driving they had made back to the city. Tony had been going triple the speed limit. He didn't stop at any red lights, and Ziva could hear the streets being flooded with car horns. Five minutes later they had arrived at the hospital. Tony flew out the car with Ziva in his arms. He was in such a rush he had forgotten to such off the car. The sliding doors opened and Tony ran down the hall to the nurse's counter. Blood was dripping down his bare chest, and this only made him more nervous. Ziva had closed her eyes half through the trip, and Tony was starting to think that she had bleed to death because he forgot to tie he arm up with some kind of cloth like in the Terminator. The woman had been shot in the leg and she tied a bandana around it. When the nurse behind the counter spotted Tony she rose from her chair and glided around the counter pushing what appeared to be a button. A male nurse then came around the corner with a hospital bed. She must have called for him when she pressed the button.

"What happened?"

"We are federal agents. She was shot and then went into shock." Tony spoke breathlessly as he set Ziva on the bed.

"Alright I'll take her from here." The doctor arrived from out of no where and was already looking her arm.

"Sir you're going to have to wait in that room." The nurse said while pointing at the waiting room.

If the situation had been better he might have argued with her or probably flirt, but this time he simply obeyed her request.

**Hey again. Hope you like the story. The weekend is finally here and I am going to have more time to post new chapters. Thanks again to my fans. I love your comments. **

**Agent T**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello readers. I am stuck. I have no idea what to do. Some people want Ziva to be with Damon. Then, others want Ziva to be with Tony. I want Ziva to be with Tony but what about Damon. I've already made him the bad guy in a way. There are so many choices and I can only choose one. For the readers that don't like the idea I have chosen I'm sorry, but then you can always create your own story. I would like to make everyone happy but I can't. I really hope you enjoy, and I'm sorry for those who don't. Thanks to my reviewers. **

**Agent T**

It had been over an hour since they had taken Ziva in the back, and Tony was becoming very anxious. Gibbs had arrived alone. Tony and Gibbs hadn't spoken, and Tony knew Gibbs was waiting for a different time. While they waited for news on Ziva's well being, Gibbs had questioned what had happened. Tony had explained everything with perfect clarity. Gibbs could see Tony was beating him self up over what had happened. He could tell that Tony was blaming himself.

"It's not your fault." Gibbs spoke in his fatherly tone.

Tony could not bare to look at Gibbs. Tony felt he had failed Gibbs. He didn't want to face the humiliation. After five minutes since Gibbs had attempted to comfort Tony, Ziva came walking through the double doors she had gone through early. Her arm was plastered in bandages with a neck-shoulder holster keeping the arm propped up at her waist. Tony immediately stood when he saw Ziva.

"Ziva are you alright?" Tony asked feeling extremely guilty for not listening to Ziva's gut feeling.

"I fine Tony. Gibbs you did not have to come this far."

"The hell I didn't." Gibbs said his blue eyes growing icy cold. Ziva informed both Tony and Gibbs she was feeling better and they were discharging her.

"Dinozzo drive Ziva home." Tony accepted, and hauled Ziva to the elevators.

Tony was eager to talk to Ziva alone. He had been thinking of what to say when he was waiting in the hospital for the diagnosis on Ziva's arm.

"Ziva." Just as Ziva had done earlier that day he only spoke her name.

Tony had taken Ziva to her apartment, which was a three story building with lovely traditional street lamps lined down the sidewalk.

"Did you call Damon?" Ziva asked wondering why Damon hadn't been at the hospital.

"Oh. No I forgot. I'm- It won't happen again." Tony caught himself when he was about to say, 'I'm sorry.'

Gibbs did not want his team to say sorry because it was considered a sigh of weakness.

"Well he should be inside."

"What!" Tony's voice jumped up a few octaves.

"I mean Corporal Worth is living with you?" Tony asked pulling himself together.

"Yes. Well, he is getting his apartment exterminated and he is not allowed inside his house for at least three days, so I offered him my couch."

"Oh how nice." Tony said through clenched teeth.

He knew that the extermination was only an excuse to get the chance for a sleepover at Ziva's place. Tony kept his mouth shut and walked Ziva up the stairs to her apartment. He didn't want to get in between Ziva and Damon if she loved him. Tony was still wounded by what had happened with Rivkin. Tony did not want to make the same mistake twice. Ziva opened her door, and walked in. Tony stayed in the doorway and waited for her to speak.

"Ziva! What happened?" Tony could her Damon's voice coming from the right corner of the apartment.

"I fine. Tony I'll see you at work."

"Tony?" Damon questioned, as he walked across the room to the door and peered out.

"Oh. Tony what are you doing here." Damon asked in a surprised voice.

"I'm just dropping off Ziva."

"From where?" Damon demanded.

"The hospital."

"Well, why didn't you call me?"

"I didn't think about that.  
"You didn't think about that!" Damon shouted, and Tony could see his muscles flexing underneath his very tight shirt.

"Hey I had her blood," Tony pointed at Ziva,"All down my front. I was miles away from help and communication because we had been sent to the middle of no where. Ziva was shot; I was terrified I had lost her. I wasn't thinking of you in that moment, but of saving her life. I dropped you off Ziva and I'm going home, alright. I'm sorry this happened and I know I should have listened to you and I'm sorry! Goodnight." Tony spoke breathlessly.

"Tony…"Ziva whispered as she saw Tony's body figure disappear into the night. _Goodnight Tony. _

**So here's another chapter. I'm not to sure about this one. It seems a little cheesy, but I might be wrong. It isn't my favorite chapter, but at least it's something. I thought it was really short, but I don't think it would sound good if I made it longer. Well I hope you enjoy it. Love your feedback.**

**Agent T**


	7. Chapter 7

Tony was in the men's restroom. He was exhausted. Tony hadn't slept well because he had been thinking of what he had said to Ziva in front of Damon. He felt like a total idiot for letting his mind slip. Tony finished and turned to leave when he was stopped by Ziva, who had entered very silently. Tony was shocked to find a huge purple bruise on Ziva's left eye. He couldn't manage to say anything, so he simply stared. He didn't care if it was rude.

"Hello Tony."

"Um. Hi, lady's restroom is that way." Tony stated pointing to the right.

"Yes I know."

"Then you want to talk." Tony questioned.

"Perhaps I wanted to thank you."

"Thank me! You almost died because of me!"

"No I don't think it was like that."

"Then what was it like? You pushed me out of the way, and now your arm is a piece of beef jerky because of it! A few more inches to the right, and you could have been shot in the heart! Ziva…I did this to you." Tony whispered the last sentence.

He felt so horrible about himself he didn't notice Ziva raise her hand and bring it down with such anger and force it could have fired an unloaded gun.

"OW! What was that for?" Tony looked at Ziva's eyes.

"That was for being a complete idiot. You think you did this to me. You're wrong. You didn't fire the gun, and your bullet didn't hit me. On the other hand a man in a dark suit did. Are you just going to mope around blaming you're else or are you going to be a man and catch the right one responsible for it?" Ziva was tough with her prep speeches.

This prep speech shut Tony up. He realized she was right and dropped the subject.

"What did you want to thank me for?" Tony's heart burned with curiously and though he tried to hide it he's eyes told the same thing too.

"Well I wanted to thank for two things." Ziva took a pause so this last sentence could soak in.

"First, thank you for saving me. If you hadn't rushed as fast as you did I would have probably lost too much blood."

"Oh please you are ninja. I high doubt that a ninja such as your self would die of blood loss. You would probably die of sacrificing your self to save the world or something like that." Tony smiled, as Ziva laughed.

Tony loved when he made Ziva laugh because it was so rare for her to do so.

"Second, thank you for what you said last night." Tony was surprised she was thanking him for that.

"Why?"

"Tony what you said last night was the sweetest thing any one of my partners has told me. Your little speech proved to me that you care more than I thought you did about me. I wanted to follow you, but I had to explain to Damon what had happened."

"Did you get a chance to explain, or did he just beat the crap out of you?" Tony asked through a very tense jaw.

"I can see he made you his personal piñata."

"No Tony it wasn't like that. He got angry when I told him how I felt about you and I was standing to close. It's my fault."

There was a long pause before Tony gathered enough strength to ask, "How do you feel about me?"

Ziva's head shot up at the question and she answered, "We should get back to work."

Before Tony could ask again Ziva was gone, and Tony was left alone with a pending question.

**So there you have it. I know its short, but I felt it was a good place to end. I sort of like this chapter. I think it sounds better then I thought it would. Hope you guys like it. Thanks for my reviews. I hope you can tell I am taking into consideration all of your thoughts and trying to include them in the story. Well, thanks again and enjoy.**

**Agent T**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey everyone. I sorry it's been so long since I updated my story, but I have been so busy. I had a play, a choir concert, and a district track meet (we won). I finally have time to add a new chapter to my story and I am not exhausted.** **Anyway, I hope you enjoy.**

**Agent T**

The bullpen was silent as McGee, Tony and Ziva work vigorously to discover the identity of the man in the black suit. It was assumed by the three that the man in the suit had been the man who had killed the five marines. They had been awake for a whole day trying to find any bit of information but the man was invisible. They all had drunken at least fifty cups of coffee, and were continuing to feel the need of rest.

"Awhh." Tony yawned and Ziva looked at him with droopy eyes.

"We are all tired Tony." Ziva said trying to tell Tony to have a little consideration for her and McGee.

"Yea I know, but it's just so quiet in hear I thought we needed a little tension breaker."

"We don't need anything breaking except the case Dinozzo. What do ya got?" Gibbs spoke as he drifted into the bullpen.

Tony's eyes feel back onto his computer, and Ziva smiled a little smirk before returning her attention to tracing a phone number she thought might help.

McGee began first with explaining his findings. Following him was Ziva and then Tony who had not had much luck with finding clues. McGee had mentioned a warehouse in northern downtown that was used for scientific experimentation.

"Boss, they have special knifes that are used for dissecting, and I think that if we could borrow a knife from the facility we would find that the knife would be a match to the knife used to stab and kill the five marines.

"Tony take Ziva check it out."

Gibbs tossed the car keys in the air when Tony wasn't paying attention and Ziva caught them with her good arm.  
"No driving for you Ziva you got a broken arm." Tony said with a smile on his face as he took the car keys out of her hand.

"I can still drive." She said with her chin held high.

"Yea, but not good." Tony said as he head toward the elevator after he had retrieved his weapon and gear.

Ziva only glared at him as she was forced to relinquish the lost argument. When they had made it into the car Tony was the first one to speak.

"Hey you can drive next time." Ziva looked up at him with joyful eyes.

"Thanks." Tony only smiled at her when he realized she was waiting for him to say something else. They were silent the rest of the way only glancing at each other every once in a while.

McGee desired to talk to Abby for a while now, but had been flooded with so much work that he never had the time. He had walked by Abby's lab so many times today dropping off paperwork and picking it up again. Each time he contemplated whether or not he should have gone in just to say hi. He was heading down the stairs no determined to have a moment to see her. He would make excuses everyday just to see her face. It was as if he was being pulled into a vortex of desired. He desired to see her. To see how she was today and hope that she hadn't meant anyone special that would take his place. He walked into her lab which was always a bit colder then the hall way.

"Hey Abby."

"Tim." He knew something was wrong because she never called him Tim it was always Timmy.

"Yea?" McGee asked wondering what she could possibly be angry about.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello everyone. I have suddenly had a moment of joy. I have discovered something so exciting it nearly knocked my socks off. If you read this chapter well you will DISCOVER something as well. Good luck on your mission. **

**Agent T **

"Tim."

"Yes?" McGee questioned.

He ran through his thoughts to find anything that would cause this anger and hurt. Abby was radiating pain.

"Abby what's-"Abby cut McGee off before he could ask his question.

"Oh don't you dare McGee. Don't you ask me '_What's wrong?'_ because you know perfectly well."

"If I did Abby I would have tried to avoid your lab which I haven't because I didn't come here for the case I came here to say hi."

Abby was silent for a minute trying to process what McGee had just said. He had been nice to her not defense and this threw her off.

"Still! You! You! You!- "

"What is it!"

"You promised me! Remember last Thursday you promised to be at the brain matter concert I invited you too, and it was very special because they let me go onstage and sing."

The realization of McGee's bit of memory loss hit him like a train going a thousand miles an hour. McGee's jaw fell as he was struck with a heavy load of guilt.

"Oh Abby. I… I… I… forgot. I'm _so_ sorry-" He emphasized the word so.

Abby cut him off before he could continue.

"Don't." Abby turned around and started to type with great passion on her computer.

"Go away, I'm busy."

McGee left with his head hanging. He was disappointed in himself, but knew at that moment he would let this mistake stay this way. McGee would find some way to make it up to Abby, he had too.

Tony stepped out of the car in his thousand dollar Italian dress shoes.

"Hey Ziva are you having any bad feelings about this place?" He asked waving his finger at the building.

"That's not funny and no." She did smile at Tony's questioned but refused to allow him to see it. The building looked similar to a hospital and was very old. Tony stepped onto one of the steps in front of the building and it lowered. Tony fell back onto Ziva, which caused her to fall to the ground with Tony on top of her.

"Yikes!" Tony said in a Scooby Doo voice.

"What?" Ziva asked her eyes wide in shock.

"Scooby Doo." Ziva didn't say anything so he continued to give her details.

"Only the best cartoon and 'The Mystery Gang.' They were always falling through trap doors ."

"Tony, _the _step." She stated a bit insulted by the way he was trying to make her understand a cartoon she never knew.

"Everyone knows Scooby Doo." Tony said a bit amazed by Ziva's lack in cartoon culture.

"Get off me Tony."

"Oh right. Sorry." Tony stood up right then bent down and helped Ziva unto her feet.

They brushed themselves off then they stepped over the first step and walked through the door. When they finished in the building they came out with one knife located in an evidence bag in Tony's pocket. Tony knew at that moment, as he stepped back into the car, he would not allow Ziva to go home tonight without having knowledge of the famous Scooby Doo. Tony and Ziva made it back to the bullpen in half an hour. The day had passed by quickly and Gibbs had ordered everyone to go home and rest. McGee had found a solution to his dilemma. He called Abby and told her to come to the bullpen for some news on the case. It was a lie. McGee was actually going to show Abby surveillance caught at the brain matter concert he forgot to go to. It showed Abby onstage singing as the audience went crazy. When Abby arrived McGee was the first to speak.

"Abby I never knew you could sing." Abby stood in front of McGee desk with her arms crossed not exactly understand McGee's statement.

"I hacked into the surveillance that was taken the night of the concert, and I have it on CD. I just finished watching the whole thing. I had a front row seat." Abby smiled a huge sparkling smile.

"Oh Timmy." She said as she walked around his desk and hugged him.

Tony and Ziva looked over in confusion. They glanced at each other to see if the other understood but no one did. McGee and Abby offered Tony and Ziva to go see a movie before they left, but Tony and Ziva refused. When Abby and McGee were out of sight Tony shut off his computer and desk lamp. He picked up his coat and gear then turned to Ziva who was still working on her computer.

"Ziva." Tony said waiting for Ziva to look away from her computer screen.

"Yes."

"Want to learn who Scooby Doo is?" Tony asked with hopeful eyes.

"I can't I have a date with Damon." Ziva stated this with a mixture of sadness and joy.

Tony's hopefulness suddenly turned to anger.

"Damon?"

"Yes."

"You're still with that guy even after he did that to your eye."

"Tony plea-"

"No! I don't want you to get hurt tonight. Not again."

"It's not going to happen again Tony." Tony's heart fluttered at the sound of his name coming from her lips even in the middle of his anger.

He walked over to her desk and looked down into her eyes.

"Ziva." He whispered.

"Just one night, just a couple cartoons. Please." Ziva smiled a little smile, picked up her things, then shut off her light and computer.

Ziva reached for her cell phone and dialed a number Tony could not see. His jaw dropped a small amount when he realized he had been victories.

"Hello Damon. I am so sorry, but I'm going to have to work late tonight. We can see that movie some other time. See you later. Bye." Ziva smiled as she hung up the phone and looked at Tony's expression. He couldn't help but think, '_Did that just happen?'_

"Shall we?" Ziva asked as she walked around her desk and headed for the elevators.

"We shall." Tony said in complete amazement.

**Hope you liked it!**

**Agent T**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello everyone, I have been busy lately. Since NCIS is off for summer I have been getting into burn notice. It's a pretty interesting show, but definitely not as good as NCIS. Burn notice is only to pass the long time I have to wait to see season 8 of NCIS. By the way, I thought the season finally was crazy, weird, hurtful, shocking and cool all at the same time. I'm excited to see what's going to happen next. The suspense is killer. So, here is another chapter. I have had a long time to think about what was going to happen next and I'm pretty pleased with it. I hope you are too. Thanks for the reviews.**

**Agent T**

Though the clock read midnight Tony and Ziva had continued their night with Scooby Doo cartoon episodes one after another. It had been two hours of nothing but, _'Jee Scoob I don't like this place. What was that! (Shaggy.)' _Aftera few minutes Scooby would begin to yell, _'WRAT RARW!'_ (_This meant uh o is doggy language._) Ziva was enjoying herself, which was very shocking to her. She did not think she would enjoy watching cartoons with Tony, but she chose to. She'd rather be with Tony watching cartoons then alone with Damon in her apartment. Tony hit pause then turned to Ziva.

"Hey do you want some popcorn?"

"Tony, its midnight."

"I know, but everything taste better at night."

"No it doesn't."

"How would you know? Have you ever eaten anything after midnight? And you can't watch Scooby Doo without popcorn."  
Ziva thought for a moment thinking she was being completely ridiculous for arguing over popcorn.

"Aright, I would like some popcorn." Tony smiled and went to the kitchen.

Ziva was left alone in front of the television screen. She began to think of Damon, and remembering the night he had hit her. Damon had turned very aggressive and very protective of Ziva. She was becoming uncomfortable with his behavior, so she told herself that she needed to tell him enough. Ziva had not told Tony the truth about why Damon had hit her. She tried to tell Damon that he wasn't right for her. Ziva was ready for a clean break. Damon would go his way and she would go her way. He didn't take this information so easily. He became aggressive, and started to ask Ziva, _'Who is it? I know there is someone else. Who!' _Ziva tried to explain that there was no one else. She was pleading with him, but he had turned into an animal. Ziva gave one last plead then… Everything went silent. She was knocked on the ground from the force Damon had put into the punch that landed on Ziva's left eye. Ziva looked down at her fingernails then back at the television screen. She knew Damon was waiting for her, but didn't want to face him. Ziva didn't have the strength anymore. She was tired. She had lost all desire to fight. This was the effect of Somalia. Ziva only wanted a little bit of peace.

"Popcorn's here!" Tony said with a smile as he sat down on the couch next to Ziva.

Ziva dropped the thought of Damon. She wanted to have a good night. So she put on a smile when Tony sat down. He pressed play and she began to pop kernels into her mouth. It hadn't been a full twenty minutes before Ziva and Tony heard a loud crashing noise coming from behind them. They both stood causing the popcorn to fall on the ground and spill all over the carpet. The noise was caused by someone kicking the door open. They were both shocked to see that it was Damon. He stood a few steps in Tony's apartment. Damon looked at Ziva's terrified face and began to speak, "Working late."

Damon inched closer to the couch.

"Damon we were just watching Scooby Doo you know the cartoon. Tony mentioned it this afternoon, and I told him I didn't know the show. Wait, how did you find me?"

Tony was just observing their conversation. Although he appeared calm he was a fiery inferno of anger inside. Damon had busted into his apartment and was throwing in Ziva's face the fact that she lied to him, so she could have a nice night out with Tony even though Damon might have attempted to bash her skull in. Tony couldn't help but think to himself._ What's wrong with Ziva? How could Ziva allow this idiot to be in her life? She really doesn't know how to choose the right guys. And what the hell is wrong with Corporal Worth? _

"Hello Corporal-"

"You shut up!" Damon yelled at Tony.

"Hey you can't just break into my house and start yelling at me."

"Then what I'm I doing right now!"

Tony was getting fed up with Corporal Worth's attitude and started to walk around the couch to face him.

"Ziva let's go!"

Tony turned to Ziva. He looked into her eyes trying to understand why she didn't stand up for herself and say no. Ziva was willing to stand up for herself and fight, but she was hoping Tony would. She wanted Tony to be her knight in shining armor. Ziva knew it was ridiculous, but she always pictured Tony that way. Ziva looked back into Tony's emerald eyes, and a little burning desire grew in her heart.

"No!" She yelled to Damon with great demand.

"I will not go with you Damon. I am not your dog. You can not boss me around, or order me order around like a dog. The orders are my job. I will tell you one time and one time only. You will pick up your trash from my apartment and get out. You will pay Tony for his repairs, and you will never ever come near me again. If you do I will castrate you. Is that understood? Good." Ziva held her head up high.

She felt good about standing up for herself, but she was still a little disappointed Tony hadn't done it for her. Damon didn't listen to Ziva. He inched closer to her now. Damon towered over Ziva, and his hot breath was thrown onto her skin.

"I said let's go." Damon's eyes burned into Ziva's.

She was frozen, and now was the time she really wished Tony would do something. To Ziva's amazement he did. Tony grasped Damon by the shirt collar and pushed him back a few feet away from the doorway.

"Look Corporal, Ziva said no. I don't know what you don't understand about no, but if you lay one hand on her I will make sure you never see the light of day again. I'm not in the mood to start a fight, so I'm going to ask you nicely to get out."

Damon was breathing flames. He didn't know that while Tony was observing Ziva and him speak he had reached for his cell phone and sent a text to Gibbs. Tony knew Gibbs didn't do text, but he hoped that some how he would get the message. Gibbs did.

"Who do you think you are?" Damon said, but a voice behind him in the door way answered.

"He thinks he is Special Agent Anthony Dinozzo, and you are Corporal Damon Worth. I am Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Now that we know each other put your hands behind your back."

Damon wasn't in the mood to follow orders. He turned 90 degrees and Gibbs stopped him in his tracks pinch a presser point on his neck, and watched as he fell to the ground unconscious. When that was done Gibbs looked up at Ziva then at Tony, and asked "What the hell are you two doing watching Scooby Doo?"

**Hope you liked it.**

**Agent T**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey everyone I got your reviews, but the story isn't over. Sure, this time Tony didn't fight with Damon but that doesn't mean the same will happen next time. I have big idea for the story, and Tony will do something Ziva will not be able to resist. I too wanted Tony to fight with Damon in the last chapter, but at the last moment I got an idea and I think its better then them fighting in the apartment. I think everyone was expecting a fight between them, and I don't think my story is a one where you can expect what will happen next, so keep reading. Hope you like it. Thanks for the reviews.**

**Agent T**

Damon was laying on the ground moaning. Gibbs had ordered Tony to take him back to the naval base then go home and get some rest. Gibbs left the room with one last glance at Tony. Gibbs was giving Tony the okay to do whatever he wanted when Tony was taking him to the naval base. Tony told Ziva to go home and get some rest. At first she was reluctant, but finally gave in.

"Thank you Tony."

"For what?"

"Tonight."

"Thanks for coming. I thought you were going to say no to me when I asked you." Ziva smiled then head for the door.

"Goodnight Tony."

"Night Ziva." Tony said with a smile that turned into a death glare when she left.

This death glare was directed to the moaning man on the floor. Damon was confused on what had just happened. Tony waited until he saw Ziva drive away from his window. Then he turned and stalked toward Damon. He picked up Damon by the shirt collar like he had done earlier.

"Damon, you know I was about to bash your face in, but I remembered there was ladies present. If you look around now she's gone." Tony didn't want to show that side of him in front of Ziva, so he patiently waited for everyone to clear out.

"Get up." He told Damon, and Damon struggled back onto his feet.

"You can't order me around." Damon regained his strength and face Tony.

Damon was a good four inches taller then Tony, but Tony didn't show one ounce of fear. He stood proud with his head held high.

"It's time to go Damon." Tony used Corporal Worth's first name for the first time.

Then, he took his handcuffs off his belt and reached toward Damon.

"No way in hell." Damon whispered.

He then lashed out toward Tony punching him in the left eye just like he had with Ziva. Though Tony wasn't as strong as Ziva he didn't fall to the ground. He knew Ziva wasn't telling the truth on why Damon had punched her, and Tony had been angry both at him and her. He was angry at him for being a complete coward as well as hurting Ziva. Tony was angry at Ziva for telling a lie to his face. Tony crouched down then pushing himself toward Worth's legs knocking him on the ground. Adrenaline started to pump through Tony's veins as his dreams was becoming reality. He wanted to make Damon feel his anger. He was tired of watching Ziva get hurt. Tony was confused he started to think why Ziva would allow this if she had the strength to defend herself. Why wasn't she here kicking Worth's ass instead of him? That's when it clicked. The thought was so powerful and sudden he said it out loud.

"She wants me to do it." The power of the thought shot adrenaline up Tony's spine.

He threw a punch that landed on Damon's left check bone. Then he threw another that landed on his left torso area. The force of the punch caused Damon to jump into the air a bit. Damon became angry, and returned both punches. One of the hits ripped open Tony's forehead skin causing blood to drip down his face. When Tony was hit in the face his head turned to face the couch. _Uh-o._ He thought when he saw a medium size brown bag laying on the couch. The bag was Ziva's purse. _How did she drive away?_ He thought. Then he remembered she had put her keys in her pocket. Tony knew she was going to come back because she had also forgotten her gear. She needed her gear for tomorrow. Tony was right Ziva was a few minutes away from his apartment when she realized she didn't have her things, so she turned at the closest U turn. Damon threw another punch toward Tony, but he missed. Tony dodged the hit and reached for his gun. He pulled it out and aimed.

"I don't want to shot you." He told Damon, but Damon only followed Tony's movements.

Damon had a gun tucked in the back of his pants. He pulled it out and aimed it toward Tony.

"Really well I want to shot you." Damon added more flames to the fire.

Tony could hear Ziva's car pull up outside, and was distracted for a fraction of a second when he heard a gun shot. Tony heard the shot before he felt a sharp pain in the middle of his chest. He looked down to find blood oozing out of a hole that had been put in the middle of his chest. That's when Ziva walked in to find Tony falling to the ground. She ran to him ignoring Damon.

"Call an ambulance." She demanded, but Damon didn't move.

Ziva looked down at Tony and put pressure on his wound.

"Seems like…déjà vu." Tony said having trouble speaking over the pain, "Except I'm the one who dies this time."

"No, Tony you are not going to die."

Ziva hadn't noticed Damon walking closer to them. He lifted his weapon again and aimed for Ziva. Tony saw him, and gripped his gun. He didn't know if he had the strength to lift up the gun. He needed to find the strength somehow. Tony needed to save Ziva. Damon's finger added more pressure to the trigger. _One gun shot. Two gun shots. Three gun shots. _Damon's eyes were bewildered as he fell to the ground with three gun shots in his chest. Tony dropped his weapon and closed his eyes. He slowly started to fall asleep to the sweet sound of Ziva calling his name. Tony's last memory of life was the memory that kept him alive.

**I don't know about you guys, but I kind of liked this chapter the best. No, Tony will not die. I hope. I know you guys don't want him to die as much as I don't want Tony to die, but someone died in this chapter. Who? Hopefully, it was Damon because I don't like him. Wow I can't believe I have 11 chapters this story is coming along a lot faster then my other one. Hope you guys liked it as much as I did. Thanks for the reviews.**

**Agent T **


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello my lovely fans, I have finally decided to add another chapter to the story. I haven't been writing because I have been packing, and I broke a glass cup while washing the dishes and I cut my hand multiple times. I have healed enough to continue writing. Thanks for the reviews, and the very nice comments. Hope you enjoy.**

**Agent T**

It had been a full week since the incident between Tony and Damon. Damon had unfortunately died three days after the shooting. Due to a bullet clipping his lung and another that clipped his heart. Tony had better luck. He had recovered to about seventy percent in four days. The hospital had discharged him after five days. Today was the beginning of the second week Tony had been out from work. He was finally coming back. Although, his return was cause for celebration Tony still faced the dilemma of having to explain himself to Ziva and Vance. Gibbs had attempted to explain to Vance the shooting between Tony and Damon, but Vance wanted to speak with Tony. Tony walked into the bullpen, and plopped his gear on the ground. He sat on his chair slower then usual because he was still sore from the small hole in his chest. Ziva and Tony hadn't spoken much after he was taken in the ambulance. She had only visited him once at the hospital to drop off some clothes and a portable DVD player with a few movies. Tony turned on his computer, and then the monitor.

"Welcome back Tony." McGee told Tony when Tony was settled.

"Thank Probie." McGee turned back to his computer and grinned.

"Hello Tony." Ziva said in a very calm, welcoming voice.

Tony turned to look at Ziva for the first time. She was wearing a black button down shirt, and her usual cargo pants. Tony could see Ziva's pants because she was standing in front of his desk.

"Hello Ziva." Tony said while giving her an uncomfortable expression.

"The second day you were in the hospital I went to your home and organized everything for your return. I had your door replaced. I paid, and as a gift you don't have to pay me back."

"Wow really?"

"No everything cost five hundred and sixty three dollars and seventy five cents." Tony's jaw dropped as he was given the price of the door and the cost to install it.

"You paid five hundred dollars for a door!" Tony's voice jumped an octave.

"And seventy five cents." Ziva added.

"Ziva it's going to be a while before I can pay you back."

"Well you have a lifetime. That is your gift."

"Okay thanks." When Tony finished thanking Ziva he turned back to McGee.

"Hey McStatus, What is the news on the case? Are we ready to catch the bad guy who killed those five marines?"

"Um, well, we already did."

"What?"

"Yeah, you missed out on all the fun. A psycho wife was cheating on her husband with one of the marines and the other four got in the way of her getting away with her husbands murder. When Gibbs went to pick her up she went wild. She was standing outside her house, and when she saw us she picked up a knife and started to slash holes in her car tires. Other then filing away that case we are pretty much finished."

Gibbs walked into the bullpen, and began instructing the team. Ziva walked back to her desk quickly and quietly.

"Cases never end McGee. You should know that. Dead petty officer. Grab your gear."

"Hey boss." Tony said as Gibbs walked past him.

"Did you miss me boss?" Gibbs only looked at Tony.

"Well, I missed you."

"I know DiNozzo." Gibbs stepped into the elevator with Tony, Ziva and McGee on his tail.

Tony and Ziva hadn't spoken much and Tony was becoming anxious. He wasn't expecting Ziva to be so 'nice' to him this morning. Tony was expecting that she was going to be angry, and never want to work with him again. Tony' thoughts were the very opposite of Ziva's thoughts. Although she was grieving for Damon's death she knew it was better that way. She could not be with someone so violent. Ziva had wanted to speak with Tony, and clear the situation between them. She had sensed he had hesitated, and 'chickened out' every chance she had to corner him in the bathroom. Tony had taken many bathroom breaks today. McGee was starting to wonder if Tony had a bladder problem because of the gun shot to the chest.

"Are you feeling alright Tony? This is like your fifteenth visit to the bathroom."

"No body asked McNosy." Tony was constantly taking trips to the bathroom because he wanted Ziva to come talk to him.  
She had ignored him for self pleasure, but she was now going to accept the offer. She rose from her desk when Tony was out of sight, and told McGee to cover for her. Ziva paced herself on the way to the men's restroom giving her a few minutes to put together a good speech. She walked in, and Tony wasn't there. Or so she thought. Ziva walked in, but Tony was standing behind the door so when she walked in he would close it without her seeing him.

"Tony." Ziva spoke first.

Tony walked away from the door over to the sinks. He didn't lock the door, and Ziva didn't think it was necessary.

"I assumed you wanted to speak with me. Yes?"

"Yea, but…"

"What, then? I am here. What is it you need?"

"Ziva, I killed Damon and you are fine with that?"

"Tony I think this conversion would be better at a different time."

Tony looked nervous. A drop of sweat was forming on his forehead. Ziva noticed this, and started to wonder whether or not he was sick.

"Tony was McGee right. Are you not feeling well?"

"No, it's just."

"What!" Ziva finished her question then the door went flying open.

Gibbs was standing in the doorway looking from Tony to Ziva and back.

"I thought we had a case on our hand, and you guys are little to old to be acting like junior high school girls asking their teaching for a potty break so they could skip class and chat with there little girlfriends."

Both Ziva and Tony's jaw dropped a little at the sound of Gibbs speak for so long all together.

"Well!" Gibbs spoke a little louder.

Tony and Ziva understood the message, and went back to work. Gibbs was left alone in the bathroom, and a washed upon his face. As quickly as the smile to a memory he had came it went away. When Gibbs was done enjoying his moment's natural high he swiftly turned around and went back to the bullpen.

**Well, there you have it. I didn't write a hospital scene because one I hate hospitals and two every fanfic I have read has a hospital scene where Tony or Ziva get hurt. When they are in the hospital they fall in love. I think it's a weird place to fall in love, and I don't want a hospital scene in my story for either Tony or Ziva. Anyway, I wanted to ask you guys what you are thinking about season 8 of NCIS. I am really excited to see what happens. I have been reading on the NCIS homepage that Michael Weatherly and Sean Murray are not officially signed on for season 8 *yet*. Meaning they haven't signed their contracts. I would stop watching the show if they killed of Tony or McGee. I'm wondering what you guys think. So, let me know. I don't think I did so great on this chapter, but I really didn't know what to do in this scene, so I just went ahead and put something together. Thanks again for the reviews. **

**Agent T **


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey everyone. I am sorry for not writing for so long, but I just haven't been wanting too. I am finally updating my story because I finally desired it. I hope you enjoy it. **

**P.S – Updates on Michael Weatherly's and Sean Murray's contracts they have both signed off meaning the whole cast will be returning for season 8. **

**Agent T **

Tony had been sitting at his desk all day with the constant urge to speak with Ziva. Ziva had noticed how uncomfortable Tony had become, and was beginning to worry about him. She'd glance up once in a while from her paperwork to check on him, and every time he seemed to be sweating a bit more. The clock was reading eleven thirty, and the team hadn't found anything big on the dead petty officer. Gibbs walked into the bullpen when Ziva looked up to check on Tony and ordered to be briefed on their findings.

"What do ya got?" McGee began.

"Well, Abby found the petty officer's identification. His name was Arnold Penchosky. His record is clean, and so is his bank account. I found that two days ago he went to the bank and withdrawn every penny he owned, which was a total of over one hundred thousand dollars."

"David, strategies." Gibbs realized McGee was finished explaining his findings, and turned his attention to Ziva who was still looking at Tony. Tony was laying his head on his desk. He looked paler, and had begun to breathe a little harder.

"I looked at the blueprint of the building the petty officer was killed in and there was no other entry ways expect for the door, which the petty officer locked when he went in. So, the killer must have had a key." Ziva finished explaining her findings then turned her attention back to Tony who appeared to look worse.

"Dinozzo." Gibbs turned his attention to Tony who's head snapped up at the sound of his name.

"Yes boss."

"Go home. Get some rest."

"On it boss." Tony got up and grabbed his gear, and slowly started to make his way to the elevator.

Tony was so 'out of it' that he was walking in zig zag's.

"Ziva go with him. Make sure he arrives home alive. Then go home. McGee same thing."

"Yes boss." McGee said from behind his desk.

Tony heard Gibbs's order, and would have complained if he felt better. Ziva picked up her things and met Tony would was half way to the elevator. She grabbed his arm and helped him walk. He looked exhausted, and Ziva knew something was wrong. Tony and Ziva stepped into the elevator and Ziva asked him how he was feeling.

"Alright I guess. I'm kinda tired and my chest is throbbing."

"You should not have come in to work today. You are not completely healed."

"I thought I was fine. I mean the wound is almost gone. I thought I was healed."

"Yes well you thought wrong."

Tony glared at Ziva then hung his head.

"Sorry for your inconvenience."

"I don't mind." Ziva looked at Tony's eyes and smiled.

They stepped out the elevator, and Tony stopped abruptly when they had walked ten feet.

"Agh. It's getting worse. I'm getting dizzy." They were in the NCIS parking lot and Ziva's mini cooper was a few yards away.

"My car is right there Tony just a few more steps, and then you can rest." Tony pushed himself.

Ziva walked over to the passenger side, and opened the door. She helped Tony step in and grabbed both his and her gear. She walked to the trunk and set in their gear. Ziva jumped in and looked over at Tony who had leaned the seat all the way back, and closed his eyes. Ziva drove to Tony's apartment much slower then usual. She didn't want to make him dizzier with her driving. They arrived at Tony's apartment. He was still lying quietly in the passenger seat. He had begun to snore, and that's when Ziva realized he had fallen asleep. She stepped out and walked over to the passenger side. She quietly opened the door, and grabbed Tony's hand. Ziva was able to get him to sit up straight, and put the chair back in a sitting position. She didn't want to wake Tony, but it was the only way to get him to his apartment.

"Tony." She whispered.

"Tony we are here." She whispered again.

"Umm." Tony moaned.

"Come on Tony." Ziva called very quietly.

She bent down and grabbed Tony by the shoulders with her arm. He was half awake, but followed Ziva out the car. When he had stepped out completely he leaned his head on her shoulder as she closed the door. Ziva walked toward Tony's brand new apartment door with her arm wrapped around Tony. Tony had closed his eyes again and was walking with only Ziva's guidance. They arrived at the door.

"Tony I need the key for your door." He reached into his pocket and gave her the key.

She opened the door and hit the light switch. Ziva walked in with Tony, and closed the door behind them. She took him over to the couch and he plopped down with no complaints. Tony was rolled over to lie on his back, and hissed in pain. Ziva looked down to see what was wrong. She saw a little dot of blood coming from his chest. Ziva bent down and started to unbutton his shirt. He was sleeping very deeply now, so Ziva had no worry that he would find out what she was doing. She unbuttoned the first five buttons, and saw a white gauss taped to his chest. She untapped it to find a small bleeding hole. Tony had ripped his stitches. She didn't want to tell him because he looked so calm and peaceful as he was sleeping. Ziva got up and went to his bathroom were he had alcohol, Neosporin, more tape and gausses. She went back to the couch and removed the old gauss from Tony's chest, and reached for the alcohol and a new gauss. She drenched the gauss in alcohol and started to clean the wound. Tony made a face of pain, but didn't wake up. Ziva could tell the alcohol was causing him pain so she blown on the wound as she cleaned it. This seemed to sooth the pain. When the wound was clean she reached for the Neosporin, and put a good amount on the wound with her finger. She then put a piece of gauss on the wound, and fresh pieces of tape to keep it in place. She threw away all the trash she had created, and put the tape, alcohol, Neosporin, and extra gauss she didn't use away. Ziva walked over to one of Tony's closet's where he kept his blankets and took one out. She walked back to the couch with the blanket, and blew it over Tony's body. Ziva bent down once again, and buttoned up Tony's shirt. Ziva was about to leave, and was struck with the sudden thought, _'What if Tony got worse?' _She didn't want to leave him in this condition so she went to the couch and walked to the end Tony's head was at. Ziva sat on the floor, and closed her eyes. It had only been a few minutes that pasted before Ziva herself fell asleep.

**I hope you liked it. I think this is the sweetest chapter I have written for this story. I didn't want it to be love between them in this chapter, but friendship. Nothing really big happened, but enough to make you wonder what is going to happen to Tony when he wakes up tomorrow morning. Is he going to wonder why Ziva is sleeping on the floor in his apartment? Or is he going to wake feeling worse then he did last night? Well, I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for the reviews. I love your comments. **

**Agent T **


	14. Chapter 14

**Hello everyone, I have been informed by BnBfanatic that I misspelled a word, and I would like to say thank you I was having trouble with that word I rarely use it. I should have searched it instead of guessing. Well, thanks again to BnBfanatic and to my other reviews I loved reading your comments. I apologize for not writing very often, but to make up for it I am writing now. Hope you enjoy.**

**Agent T**

Ziva awoke to the sound of a sharp intake of breath Tony was beginning to wake up. He hadn't opened his eyes yet, but it appeared he would soon. Ziva had sat on the floor with her back against one of Tony's recliners, and her head had lay resting on the seat. She sat up only to be shocked with a wave of stiffness. Tony opened his eyes, but didn't see Ziva sitting to his left. He stretched then yawned, showing that he was still tired.

"Good morning." Ziva said causing to jump and look around the room speedily to find were she was.

"Ziva! Jeez you really scared me. What are you doing here?"

"Are you feeling better?" Ziva asked another question instead of answering his question.

"Yeah I feel fine. Why?"

"Because, you practically fainted at work from the exhaustion." Ziva laughed a little as she explained everything to Tony.

"Where'd the blanket come from? Why am I bleeding?"

"I got the blanket from the closet by the bathroom, and the blood is from last night. I think you haven't been changing you bandage enough."

"I guess I should wake up, and put a new one on then."

"Well, the blood is only on the shirt I changed you bandage last night when I saw the blood. I would have left it there but you would have probably gotten an infection, so I replace it for you."

"Oh." Tony managed to say.

He was a little embarrassed that Ziva had taken his shirt off, but grateful she had but it back on. Tony hid his embarrassment with a classic joke.

"Did you see anything you liked?"

Ziva lied as she glanced at her watch, "No, and I have to leave now or I will be late for work."

"Ugh, right I need a shower first give me five minutes." Ziva couldn't believe his words.

"You are going to work even after what happened to you yesterday."

"Yeah, I have bills to pay and that door." Tony said pointing up at the beautiful new door.

"Tony, stay home today and get better, once you are completely healed you can come back to work."

"Ziva I'm fine."

"NO! You are staying." Ziva directed Tony to lie back down.

"But-"Tony attempted to argue but failed.

"Tony." Ziva picked up her keys and headed for the door.

"Thanks." Tony yelled behind her.

"Get well soon." She called back to him before she closed the door.

Ziva was sore, and still very tired. She hadn't slept well on the floor, but even though she had to sleep on the floor she was glad Tony was feeling better this morning. She got into her car, and drove back to work. Ziva hadn't realized she was wearing the same clothes as yesterday until she walked into the bullpen. She looked down when McGee was looking at her.

"What?" She asked then looked down.

"Oh, right." She looked back at McGee who said,"Not even going to ask."

"Ask what McGee?" Gibbs questioned as he walked into the bullpen.

"Gibbs. I dropped Tony off last night, and he got worse so I stayed with him. He woke up this morning feeling better, but I told him to stay home because he still didn't look completely well. I hope that's alright?"

"Rule #12, David."

"We didn't Gibbs. I swear." Gibbs gave her a look then said,"Alright, but we still have a case. Get back to work." Ziva set her gear down, and sat behind her desk. She started to think to herself. _How could he even think that Tony and I would EVER…? _ She quickly threw the idea away when he phone buzzed in her pocket. She looked at the caller id. It was Tony.

"David."

"Ziva, hey sorry to bother you but um-"

"What?"

"Do you have my gear?" Tony asked the question, which reminded Ziva that she had put both their gear in the trunk of her car.

She was surprised she hadn't notice it when she went to retrieve her gear this morning. Ziva must have been very preoccupied with another thought.

"Yes, I forgot to leave it in your apartment. It's in the trunk of my car. I can bring it over later tonight after work."

McGee and Gibbs were overhearing Ziva conversion, and they both knew she was talking to Tony. McGee grinned a bit at how bad their conversion sounded, and Gibbs was now seriously contemplating whether or not they had broken Rule #12, but Gibbs knew his team would never do that to him so he quickly disregarded his concern.

"Ziva I left my pills in my backpack. I'm supposed to take them for my wound. It's supposed to reduce infection risk or something like that. Can you bring them over sooner?"

"On my break. Okay."

"'Kay thanks. Sorry again."

"Bye."

"What was that all about?" Gibbs asked Ziva.

"I forgot to take out Tony's gear from my trunk when I dropped him off last night, and he left his pills in his backpack so I was going to bring them over on my break."

"No give them to him now go, and hurry back."

"Yes, Gibbs." Ziva was a little shocked to hear Gibbs's direction, but quickly obeyed. She grabbed her badge and gun just in case. On her way to Tony's apartment two fire engines past her, and a few ambulances. Ziva found their destination. They were parked outside of Tony's apartment building that was now in gulped in flames. People were rushing out the bottom floor, as black smoke oozed out the upstairs windows. Tony was on the third floor. Ziva looked frantically threw the crowd of people who had walked out of the building. She was searching for Tony, but not finding him. Every second she waited made her more and more anxious.

"Ziva!" Lillian Silverman called Ziva.

Lillian Silverman was Tony's neighbor. Tony had introduced them once when Ziva was at Tony's apartment working late on a case that needed to be solved ASAP. Lillian was a blonde attractive woman with no sense of style. She ran up to Ziva, and explained what she had seen.

"Lillian did you see Tony?"

"No he never came out." That all it took to make Ziva look up at the third story , and run like a crazy woman.

She darted threw the wall of firefighter trying to stop her from going into the building. Ziva could hear them scream and yelling at her to stop and come back. The building wasn't safe to rescue anyone yet. Ziva did not care anymore. She flew up the first flight of stairs. She was receiving flashbacks of the night before when she was pulling Tony up one step at a time trying to be care, but fast at the same time. She arrived on the second floor that was very dark for all the smoke. There wasn't any visible fire, yet. She didn't waste anymore time observing the floor, and she turned to head to the third floor. She ran up the stairs two at a time. When she made it to the third floor she could see the horrible damage. The floor was crack and sinking, and the roof was caving in. The flames were rushing down the stairway like waves. She didn't pay attention to them. Ziva focused her mind on the last door to the right. She ran over the spots of floor that was bursting in flames and reached for the doorknob. It was too late before she realized that was a huge mistake. Ziva let out a little shriek of pain then looked down at her burnt hand. She pulled for her pocket a handkerchief that was like her good luck charm. She threw it onto the doorknob and turned it until it was open. Ziva kicked open the door, and grabbed the handkerchief at the same time. She wrapped it around her blood filled hand and ran inside. The flames were snapping off the walls griping at her body, but she only focused on finding Tony. Ziva turned and looked at the couch Tony had plopped down on the night before, and there he was lying unconscious with a huge scratch on his head. Even though Ziva was in this burning building with the high risk of dieing she could help but feel calmer that she had found him. Ziva ran over to his side, and slid under his arm. She lifted him, and she stumbled a bit from the heavy weight.

"My goodness Tony! No more of those jelly doughnuts for you."

Ziva walked as fast as she could while carrying Tony's weight. When they reached the stairs Ziva panicked. She could drag him across a flat surface, but not stair let alone third flights of stairs. Ziva glanced at Tony's bleeding face. She couldn't think of anything to do. As she thought of a plan a piece of fiery board fell from the ceiling landing on Ziva's leg, which caused her to fall with Tony. She landed on top of him. The board was crushing her leg. She screamed in pain, but couldn't escape her inferno trap. She turned to look at Tony, though the pain was overwhelmingly trapping her attention. Ziva looked at Tony, and couldn't think of anything to do, but to wake him from his unconscious.

"Tony! Tony! Tony! Wake up Tony! Wake Up! Tony Please Wake Up!" Ziva begged, and actually slapped Tony to see if that would help, but it didn't.

Ziva could see the second floor was just as bad as the third floor, and the flames were still going.

"TONY! " She screamed.

Tony could hear a faint sound in the background of unconsciousness. He deciphered it was a woman calling his name, and desired so badly to wake up. He heard her scream on last time, and realized it was Ziva. His eyelids opened slowly as if he were drunk with slow reflexes. Even though his eyes were open he couldn't see anything.

"Ziva?" He called to see if he was right.

"Tony! It's me Ziva come on Tony you have to get up we have to get out HURRY!"

Tony was trying to stand, but he could he was just so tired. He forced his eyelids open again, and saw the cause for Ziva panic. Flames were everywhere, rushing down the hallway burning everything in its path. Tony forced himself to feel his body to feel the pain in his chest from the gun shot wound. He forced himself to feel the never ending heat radiating off the flames. Tony forced his mind to inhabit his body, and so it happened. He sat up ignoring the protesting ache in his chest, he saw the board that was trapping Ziva, and quickly reached over, and ripped the board off her leg with all his strength, which sent the wood crashing against a wall. He picked Ziva up in his arms, and started down the stairs.

"Come Ziva. Okay here we go."

Ziva couldn't believe she had actually been able to wake him up. Tony made it to the second floor, and ducked when a flame snapped at his head. He turned to go down the second flight of stairs, and stopped on the three one down when a piece of stair broke off, and fell to the first floor. Tony continued walking ignoring his pain, and fear of his possible demise. He only thought of getting Ziva out safely. Tony, finally reached the first floor, and could see the door that would save them both. Outside the door were Gibbs, McGee, Abby, and Ducky. They had probably been called because they thought this would be a crime scene not a rescue. They were here to investigate our murders. Tony sprinted towards the door as fast as his legs would take them. Just before he reached the door a huge piece of wood fell from the ceiling right across the door. The flames were eating away at the wood. There was no exit. Tony glanced around the first floor to find anything that could help them get out, but there was nothing he could do. They were stuck. Tony looked down at Ziva in his arms. He gazed at this courageous woman who had voluntarily allowed herself be trapped in this burning hell to save him.

"I'm sorry Ziva." Tony only apologized before he fell to the ground with Ziva on top of him.

They were dieing from the smoke inhalation. Tony looked at Ziva's face. Her eyes were closed, and her breathing was very low.

"I'm so sorry Ziva."

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I loved writing this chapter. I thought it was so much fun. Well, I hope you liked it**. **And I think you know my writing well enough to know I would never ever kill Tony or Ziva so don't stop reading because of that. One again thanks for the awesome comments.**

**Agent T**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey everyone. I hope the last chapter reached your expectations. I got so into it that I wrote over two thousand words. That's a lot for me I usually write one thousand. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as the last. That's for the comments. **

**Agent T**

Tony was slowly slipping into a stage of unconsciousness. He was thinking of when he looked out the door and saw Abby. Abby didn't usually appear at crime scenes.

_What was so special about this building that Abby came? Why wasn't the autopsy gremlin next to Ducky? Did they see us? Did Gibbs see us? Is this it? Am I just going to die here with the woman that risked everything in my arms? I'm such an idiot. How could I just lay here and let these flames slowly and painfully eat away at Ziva's flesh? I'm such a coward. I am just going to let her die after attempting to rescue me. Why am I lying on the ground, and not running over to that stupid log and pushing it out of the way, and not caring if I set myself on fire? Is that's what it takes to save her? I'll do it then I'll throw myself into the flames for her. She did it for me. Why am I still on this stupid floor? _Tony attempted to stand, but fell to the ground once again. He started to crawl to the huge piece of wood blocking the doorway. Tony didn't know what to do, and finally decided to yell.

"Boss! Boss! GIBBS!" Tony was screaming so loud his face was turning a dark shade of red.

When Tony finished his last call for help, a loud noise came for the third floor. Tony turned back to Ziva, and crawled by her side. The building was going to collapse. Tony looked down at Ziva whose eyes were still closed. She had been unconscious for a while now. Tony felt so hopeless. His whole world was crumbling before his eyes, and he couldn't stop it. Another painfully loud crash came from the third floor. Then before Tony could blink the glass frames on the walls fell to the ground in loud shatters. There was an excruciatingly loud sound coming from all direction. It reminded Tony of trains. Although this sound was more like fifteen trains all coming in one direction. The horrible train sound was directed at Tony and Ziva. Even through the fear and pain Tony couldn't help to think of his movies.

_This reminds me of a scene from "__World Trade Center"__ were John and Will get trapped inside the towers. Everything was falling down around, as they were trying to escape, but no matter how hard they ran the build always won. Nicolas Cage and Michael Pena play officers John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno. They were trapped in the towers, but later rescued by marines, firefighter, and paramedics. Director: Olive Stone. That's defiantly one of my favorite movies. I guess Ziva and I are those two cops now, but we might not be as lucky as John and Will._

Tony gazed at Ziva's face, and paid little attention to the roar of the fiery monster around them.

"Ziva I-"

Gibbs stood froze as he watched the building that held two of his best agents inside. He had seen Dinozzo running for the door right before the door was sealed by a huge burning piece of wood. Gibbs also noticed that Tony had been carrying something, but wasn't quite sure what it was. He watched as the third floor collapsed onto the second then the second onto the first. A cloud of black smoke exploded over Gibbs, and the rest of his team. On lookers ran in fear they would be hit by debris. Gibbs didn't move. When the cloud of smoke, and dust settle he ran toward the building. He wasn't going to listen to the firemen this time. He reached the destroyed doorway of the apartment building, and started to call into the hill of debris.

"Dinozzo! Dinozzo! Dinozzo!" There was no answer.

Abby was a few feet behind Gibbs. Tears were clouding her vision. McGee stood next to her in silence staring straight ahead at what he believed to be the graves of two very much loved agents. Ducky stood on the other side of Abby froze like a stiff. He wore the saddest expression. Palmer stood to the left of Ducky speechless and shocked. Gibbs was the only one who had moved.

"Dinozzo! ANSWER ME! Dinozzo!" Gibbs turned back to McGee who had been ordered to ask the firefighters and paramedics if they had seen Ziva go in.

"McGee. McGee!" Gibbs called a second time to knock McGee out of his amazement.

"Ziva?"

"She went in boss, five firefighters confirmed it." Abby turned to McGee then to Gibbs.

She ran over to Gibbs's side and grasped him in an unbreakable hug.

"Gibbs they're gone."

"Abby, they're not dead. They can't be dead. I would know if they were. They're not dead." Gibbs wasn't sure this time how correct his gut was.

He was saying these words to comfort himself more then Abby.

"McGee." McGee's snapped up at his name.

"Yes boss."  
"Take Abby back to base. I'll meet you there later. Ducky I'll call you when we need you. If we need you." Both McGee and Ducky hurried away from the scene when the orders were given.

Gibbs turned to one of the firemen.

"Hey, I am Special Agent Gibbs with NCIS." Gibbs shook the man's hand as he introduced himself.

"Steven Jones. What can I do for you?"

"I have two agents in there I need you to put up a search."

"Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. I can't send a rescue team into a building that just collapsed. There are still flames that need to be put out-"

"I don't care. I f you aren't going to do it I will I need one of your fireproof jackets."

"I can't let you go in there."

"Hey, there are two people in there that need to be rescued my people! I am not going to leave them to burn! So either help me or get the hell out of my way!" Gibbs stared at Steven who locked their gaze.

Steven thought for a moment then announced his decision.

"Dan, Richard." Steven called over two other firefighters.

"Agent Gibbs you got yourself a team."

McGee droved faster then usually to NCIS. He almost ran a red light when he risked going on the yellow.

"In a rush McGee?" Abby asked from the passenger seat.

"I just want to get there and start to work. We have two cases now. Lt. Arnold Penchosky and Tony and Ziva's." Abby gasped, and McGee turned his head to face her.

"What?" McGee asked Abby who looked scared and hurt.

"Tony and Ziva are not dead McGee they're not a case."  
"I meant we have to find out if the fire was targeted at Tony or not." Abby turned to look out the window.

They didn't say a word to each other the rest of the ride.

Tony blinked to knock the small rocks off his eye lids. He turned his head as much as he could. The smoke was almost intoxication. Tony immediately turned to look for Ziva uncaring for his own well being.

"Ziva." There was a cough in response.

"Ziva!" Tony spoke a little louder.

He tried to free himself from the debris to look for her, but he couldn't see anything. Tony could feel a sharp pain running up his leg all the up his spine. He could also feel a warm liquid on his chest, which he assumed was blood coming from his gun shot wound. He had dust and dirt covering every inch of his body, but he ignored the pain and the horrible thirst for water.

"Ziva are you awake."

"Tony." He thought he heard her say although he couldn't be sure because it was so quiet.

"Ziva it's me Tony. I thought you were unconscious because of the smoke. How are you awake?"

"My leg…it's broken." Tony realized now that the board that had fallen on her leg on the third floor was the cause for her broken leg.

The pain was so bad that it knocked her out.

"Tony, it hurts." Tony tried to reach for her, but he couldn't see anything because of the smoke.

Everything was so black.

"Ziva I coming hold on. Just give me a second."

"What happened?"

"I think the building fell on top of us."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Tony scrambled his arms around because he could move his legs.

He threw his hands out to the side of him, and in front. Finally, after a few minutes he felt Ziva's arm.

"Ziva that you."

"Who else is it going to be Dinozzo?" As Ziva spoke Tony slid his arm under Ziva's head so she won't cut her head on the bed of rocks she was laying on.

It wasn't much help, but it did give her some cover.

"I'm sorry Ziva. I tried to get us out, but a huge piece of burning wood fell right in front of the door when I was inches aw-"Ziva cut him off by putting her index finger on his lips.

"Never apologize."

"Are you hurt badly?" Tony asked.

"I don think so. I think it's just my leg. And you?"

"Well, I can't feel my leg that much. It's just a little tingle in my legs and my back hurts. I think I opened up my gun shot wound again too, but I can't be sure. Hey, can you see anything or am I blind?"

"No I can't. I think your eyes are fine."

"Good." Ziva sighed.

"Ziva I didn't mean for you to get in this mess. If I wouldn't have called you for my stupid pills then you wouldn't be here. You could be with Gibbs safely outside."

"Tony I knew the risk when the fireman told me that the building wasn't safe, but I knew you would have done the same for me. It's not your fault."

There was silence for a while. Tony was the first to break this silence.

"You I really think someone's out to get me. I mean there's almost Radiation poison, the plague, my car was blown up."

"What was it like?"

"What? Seeing my beautiful shredded right before my eyes. Torture. I mean do you know how much that car costs? Who would-"  
"No I meant the plague. You said that you almost died from it, and I never asked you about it when you brought it up. Now that we have a few minutes to spread."

"Spare a few minutes to spare. And it's a long story."

"I have time."

"Well there's nothing really to talk about."

"I have learned that in America people say that to avoid explaining something. Was it that bad?"

"Yes."

"I'm sorry."

"No I'm the one that should be sorry. I got us stuck in this…this…this?" Tony was having trouble finding the correct word.

"Place."

"Yeah." Tony agree.

"I think we are going to be here for a while Tony."

"Well it's a good thing I have great company."

**Well, I hope you liked it. I don't know if it's just me or does it seem like McGee is always scratched on the face? For example, in the last episode for season 7 NCIS Tony, Ziva, and McGee were in a cross fire. While McGee was shooting the windshield broke and cut his face. On the first episode when McGee helped rescue Ziva from Salem he had scratches on his face in the elevator. Anyway, I do love the World Trade Center movie it is one of my favorites. I thought I would make a reference because Tony always watches movies, and the movie seemed most appropriate for this scene. I hope you liked it. Thanks for the comments. **

**Agent T**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hey everyone, I would first like to note I didn't like the last chapter so much. I didn't like the conversation between Tony and Ziva. I thought it sounded like two other characters talking and not them. I also left out a couple of importation details by accident, so in this chapter I plan to fix it. Just to let everyone know I haven't been proof reading my chapter's, but I am going to start because I heard that I'm making a lot of mistakes. I want my reading to be easy not hard. I will read my chapters and check for grammar mistakes, spelling mistakes, and sentences that don't make sense. I'll make the corrections because I don't understand how that beta reader works. Anyway, I was reading some other NCIS fan fictions and I noticed they have a lot of Twilight. For example, team Edward and team Jacob. I can't picture Twilight and NCIS mixing. Hope you like this chapter. Thanks for the comments.**

**Agent T**

"Tony?" Ziva asked after a few minutes had pasted.

Tony cocked an eyebrow towards her, and then realized that see wouldn't see so he spoke instead.

"Yeah?"

"What happened after I-"

"Passed out." Tony finished her sentence.

"Yes." Ziva admitted with difficulty.

"Well I carried you down to the first floor where a burning log fell in front of the door. Then, the building collapsed."

"And the fire?"

"Oh right, well when the building collapsed the strong wind put out most the fire, but there's still a couple flames here and there. I think we aren't close to them because I only see smoke."

"How long do you think it will take them to find us?"

"I don't know maybe hours, days. Hey Ziva can you see anything now?"

"The smoke isn't as thick. I see more gray then black."

"Oh."

"And you?"

"Same." Tony lied he still saw pitch black.

"I don't know about you Ziva, but my back is starting to really hurt."

"Yes, you are going to feel very strong pain every twenty minutes and then it will subside again."

"Well, how long have we been in here?" Tony asked changing the tone of his voice.

"I am not _sure_." Ziva answered dragging out the last word.

"Can you move?" Tony asked.

"I don't know I haven't tried."

"Then try." Tony spoke with more irritation in his voice.

Tony could feel Ziva moving rocks.

"I can't stand, but I can crawl."

"Well, that's good. Now crawl out."

"No!" Ziva yelled at him for even thinking about that idea.

"Ziva you can crawl out tell them I'm still alive, and then they can come rescue me."

"I am not leaving you Tony." Ziva said this last statement with a strict look on her face.

"Ziva, go out there. Save yourself Ziva. I am fine with the possibility of dieing." Tony thought to himself that he deserved to die.  
"What if I can't find you after I get out?"

"Well, I didn't say it was going to be a perfect idea."

"Then I won't go." Ziva said strictly.

"Why are you even here? I thought the firefighter told you the building wasn't safe." Tony asked Ziva his curiosity growing stronger every minute.

"I couldn't live without you. I can't. Remember?"

Tony took possession of a distant memory he had tried to forget. He was sweaty and sitting in a wooden chair. Salem stood in front of him asking several questions. It didn't matter if he answered them or not because Salem wouldn't have enough time to use the information. Tony remembered his anger toward Salem. He remembered feeling an impenetrable bloodlust targeted directly toward the man. Salem would walk around Tony showing arrogance. He thought he was so strong and unbreakable. Tony couldn't help but laugh at the memory.

"What's so funny?" Ziva asked giving away a small amount of her Israeli accent.

"Nothing." Ziva would have argued with him, but she was feeling stronger pain every second.

Tony and Ziva would become quiet every time there pain level increased. Although, time seemed to be moving very slow for them, Gibbs thought the very opposite. Gibbs had given orders to the three firemen, and they had spread out onto the debris when the few remaining flames had been put out.

"Dinozzo! David!" Gibbs called out to his agents, but call was useless.

Tony and Ziva had sunken into the ground a good five feet. Gibbs needed to be closer for them to hear.

"Dinozzo! David! Can you hear me? If so make a noise."

Tony and Ziva were quietly lying under the debris. Neither one had said anything for a good ten minutes. After a few moments pasted, Tony could hear a faint call that sounded like his name. Every call grew louder and louder. Tony could hear his name being called clearly now, and tried to respond to it.

"HEY DOWN HERE! AGENTS DOWN!" Tony coughed as he yelled from the rocks that had settled in his mouth.

"Dinozzo where are you!" Gibbs asked extremely excited for discovering Tony was still alive.

"BOSS DOWN HERE!" Gibbs looked through the debris frantically trying to find him, but he could only hear his cries.

After a long search, he spotted Tony's head threw a small hole in the wreckage.

"I see you Tony!"

"WELL IT'S ABOUT TIME!" Tony answered sarcastically.

"I'm going to get you out just hang on!"

"Alright! Hey Boss!"

"What?"

"Ziva's down here too!" Gibbs felt relief flood his body as he was being informed of the news.

"Alright! Hang on! I'm gonna get you out!" Gibbs answered then called over to the firefighters who had started to make there way to Gibbs's positioned area.

"Ziva did you hear that? We're going to be okay? Ziva?" Tony became worried when Ziva didn't answer.

"ZIVA?" He spoke louder now.

Tony reached for her face, and then trailed his hand down her chin to her neck. She had a pulse, but it was light.

"BOSS! BOSS! HURRY! BOSS ITS ZIVA HURRY!"

**Well this is a short chapter, but it's packed with action. I think I am losing my touch I was reading my first chapter and it sounds at lot better then my later chapters. I did notice I made a few mistakes in those chapters, so I am going to go back and fix them. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for the comments.**

**Agent T**


	17. Chapter 17

**I'm going to cut down on my author notes and start adding more detail to my chapters. Hope you like it. Thanks for the reviews!**

**Agent T**

Tony broke into a coughing fit as a cloud of dust and rocks floated around his face.

"Boss!" He choked, as he desperately tried to free himself.

Gibbs was a few feet away, and the enthusiastic atmosphere was overwhelming. Tony reached for Ziva's unconscious body.

"Ladies first." He whispered.

Tony gave all he the energy he had. He lifted her toward the sound of Gibbs's frantic yells. Ziva was pulled out first leaving Tony buried in the wreckage. He felt as if he was no longer connected to his body. His head was spinning. Thoughts of everything he had gone through flashed through his head like a classic movie. He watched as his life became the movie screen. He could see McGee annoyed by his consistent jokes. The screen flicked and Abby appeared. She was running towards him throwing her arms out to lock him in an inescapable hug, as she screamed his name in joy. Her pig tails would flap with every step. Once again the screen flicked, and he stood in autopsy with Ducky. He was informing him of Ziva's near death experience when she was undercover in Tel Aviv, and he was an Agent Afloat. Ducky wore a weary expression. The screen was fading as his eyes began to droop. One last figure appeared. Gibbs stared at him with his icy blue eyes. Tony watched as Gibbs reached out to him. He wanted to reach back, but to his amazement he was unable too. Tony's body was pinned down by an impeccable exhaustion. He felt the greatest desire to close his eyes and fall asleep. Gibbs yelled louder with greater passion. He called Tony's name, but the action was useless. Tony drifted into a deep sleep unable to hear the cries of his boss. He dreamed of being in the wreckage.

_He opened his eyes to a strange dark place. A sharp pain ran throughout his whole body. His breath was uneven as his looked around for any shade of light. _

"_Hello." He called out feeling like a little girl stuck in a horror film. _

_He usually made fun of them for calling out a greeting, but he understood her actions. There was no answer. _

"_Hello." He called out again. _

_This time a young girl's voice replied with a simple, "Yes." Tony jumped at the unexpected sound.  
"Who's that?" He questioned eagerly awaiting the response. _

"_You should know who I am." The girl answered._

"_Well, I don't think I know any little girls."_

"_Fine, I'll give you a hint. I'm dead." The high pitched voice let out a beautiful giggle. _

"_What? If you were dead then I would be dead and I am NOT dead."_

"_Yes you are." The voice giggled again._

"_Why can't I see you?" Tony questioned through the fear of the possibility this little girl may be right. _

"_That's easy because you don't want to die yet." Tony could feel goose bumps rising on his skin._

_Another giggle erupted from the high pitched voice. _

"_I scare you."  
"You do not. Now tell me, who are you?"_

"_I do too scare you, and you already know."_

"_I wouldn't be asking if I didn't know. Who are you? Please just tell me." Tony begged. _

"_I'll show you." The little girl's voice answered. _

_A light grew from behind him. He couldn't see the source of the light, but could see the reason for the darkness. He was still stuck in the debris. Ziva was gone, and Gibbs was no where to be found._

"_Gibbs!" He couldn't help but yell for help._

"_Yes." The little girl answered._

_Tony turned his head to the direction of the voice. He gasped as he took in her features. She was beautiful. She was the source of light. Tony recognized her immediately. Her light brown hair was braided into two pig tails. Her eyes were a breathtaking shade of green. _

"_Kelly." Tony whispered._

"_Hi Tony. I want to thank you for taking care of my Daddy. I see he's very sad. I was wondering since you don't want to die, and you are going back can you do something for me?"  
"I'm dead." Tony couldn't believe what was happening. _

"_Yep, but not for long."_

"_Wait, what did you want me to do for Gibbs?" _

"_Tell him to keep my lunchbox."_

"_What lunchbox?" Kelly grinned._

"_He'll know. You need to go back."_

"_But? I don't want to leave you here. All alone." _

"_Ziva will be alone if you don't leave. She needs you go back. It's okay Tony. Go back. Go back. Go back…" Tony could hear Kelly's little whisperers to go back and he obeyed._

_If not for the thought of losing Ziva he would have stayed, but he needed her just as much as she need him. _

Ziva watched as Tony's body flopped under the paddles of the defibrillator. Her heart stopped as she watched the heart monitor flat line.

"We're losing him!" A nurse called out, but Ziva was too distracted to pay much attention to her.

Her attention was set on Tony who was not waking up. Tears were boiling under her eyes. She wouldn't allow them to spill. They shocked Tony again. A few beeps follow, and then the dreaded long beep. They were going to shock him for the third and last time. No response.

"Time of death- 6:49 pm." The doctor began.

_No. _Was all Ziva could think. She stood in the corner of the hospital room with thoughts flying through her head. He should have been pulled out first. Tony had inhaled more smoke, and had been in the building longer then her. She had just fainted from the smoke inhalation, but Tony was dieing from it. She had also seen that he had a huge cut on his face from when she found him in his apartment. _Why didn't they get to him first?_ One single tear began at her eye, rolled down her face, and fell to the ground. Gibbs, McGee, Ducky, Abby, and even Palmer stood silent as they watched Tony die. Gibbs had called them to the hospital once Ziva woke up. Ziva couldn't take her eyes off of Tony's face. Gibbs ordered them all to go back to the Naval Base when the time of death was being recorded. Ziva refused.

"David that's an order."  
"No." She turned to look at Gibbs directly in the eye.

Gibbs flinched a little, but didn't take back his order.

"Ziva."

"No Gibbs. No." Gibbs saw the pain in Ziva's eyes, and knew that her watching Tony this way would defiantly hurt her further.

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled. Ziva fought back. Gibbs dragged her as gently as he could because she had a broke leg from the piece of wood that had crushed her leg. She watched as Tony faded in the distance.

"Tony. Tony! TONY!" She whispered and gradually increased her voice.

A single beep echoed the entire floor. Then, a second beep rang. Then a third beep confirmed. The doctor turned around quickly at the sound, and reached down to take Tony's pulse. He was making sure the machine was working correctly and it was. Gibbs released his grip on Ziva and ran over to Tony's room. Tears of joy slid down Ziva's face, but she quickly disposed of them before the rest of the team could see. They were heading out when they heard the beeps. The beating of Tony's undying heart boomed in Ziva's ears. The team rushed over to the doctor who had examined him.

"Well, this is very strange. He's alive."

"I know." Tony answered.  
The doctor's eyes widened at the sound of his voice.

"He's awake. Hello Tony welcome back." The doctor informed everyone, as if they hadn't noticed.

Ziva stood in the corner of the room once again unable to take her eyes off Tony for one second. The doctor looked him over, and found he was only injured by the wound on his head, which had caused his to be unable to see. Two broke legs, and a few scratches. Ziva had one broke leg, many scratches and bruises as well as a mild concussion.

"Hey boss." Tony said with a smile on his face.

"Hello DiNozzo."

"Well Tony you sure did give us quite a scare there buddy. How do you feel?" The doctor asked.

"Alive."

"That's good. Any pain?"

"My back hurts."

"I'll get you some pain killers with the nurse."

"I get a nurse too!" Tony joked, and the doctor left with a smile.

From the way Tony was laying down he could not see Ziva standing in the corner.

"Boss?"

"Yeah DiNozzo."

"Ziva?"

"I'm right here Tony, and so is everyone else."

Tony inspected the room seeing his whole team red eyed and happy.

"Was everyone crying or something you eyes are all wet and puffy. Even you Zee vah."

"We missed you Tony." Gibbs informed.

"Thanks boss. Oh I almost forgot Kelly said to keep her lunchbox." Gibbs stared at him in shock as did the rest of the team.

Tony turned his head to face Ziva, so there wouldn't be any time to discuss whether or not he had lost his mind.

"Ziva, thanks." He smiled a classic DiNozzo smile before the nurse walked in with his pain killers.

**Well, there you have it. I went on vacation to vail so I didn't write much for a while there. I hope I improved a bit with that detail problem. Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed it. Thanks to my reviewers. **

**Agent T **


	18. Chapter 18

**Hey everyone. Sorry I haven't been writing a lot. I have been on multiple vacations. Well, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Thanks for the reviews!**

**Agent T**

Gibbs had ordered the team to fall back to base. He turned to Ziva on his way out and said, "You stay with him David. I'll come back when he's awake."

"Yes Gibbs."

Gibbs was still shocked by what Tony had told him, but accepted it. Tony had fallen asleep due to the pain killers. He dreamed a while then woke up to find Ziva sitting next to his bed and the team gone.

"Where'd everybody go?" His asked as his eye fluttered open.

He closed them just as quickly as he opened them because of the bright hospital lights.

"They went back to the office." Ziva answered.

They were quite for a while before Tony broke the silence with another question.

"So, what's your bad news?" Tony asked curious of Ziva's injures.

"Oh nothing I can't handle. How about you how are you feeling?"

"Better then before."

"That's um good."

Tony was beginning to feel very bored. He loathed hospitals and their horrible smell. He turned to look at Ziva who was concentrating very hard at staring at the ugly linoleum on the floor. She was thinking of Tony's lifeless body and how close she had come to losing him. Ziva always thought he was annoying, but that was what made him Tony. She secretly loved that part of him, but she would never dare show it.

"Do you have any movies?" This knocked Ziva out of her head space.

"What?" Her eyes flickered to his face, and then thought about the question.

"No, but I did see a shopping mall across the street. I am sure they have a movie store. Do you want me to go look?"

Tony didn't want Ziva to leave, but he thought if he told her no she would think he was acting a little suspicious.

"Yeah sure. Pick what ever you want."

Ziva stood and walked out the door turning to look at his face one last time. She walked over to the nurse's station, and asked her to keep a sharp look out for anything out of the ordinary. She didn't want to leave Tony, but she felt she would be giving him a clue to her true feelings. Ziva made her way across the street, and over to the shopping mall. Her leg throbbed a little, but she ignored it. She walked around the corner and found a Blockbuster. Ziva walked into the Blockbuster and was immediately greeted by a man behind the counter. She thought to herself how greeters had become so bothersome lately. The man was as tall as McGee with brown hair and a beard that fell down to his chest. Ziva couldn't stop staring at his facial hair.

"Do you like it? I've been growing it since I was in high school."

"Yes, it's nice." Ziva lied having trouble saying the last two words.

She walked around scanning the videos on the shelf. Nothing looked interesting in the adult section, so she made her way over to the teen section. She found many Mary-Kate and Ashley shows, which she thought wouldn't be very interesting to Tony. Ziva walked down the aisle until she realized she was in the kid's section. She was about to walk out of the store without even looking at the kid's section when as cover caught her eye. Ziva walked over to the case. She picked it up and read the back cover.

_Dorothy Gale (__Judy Garland__) is a teenager on a Kansas farm who daydreams about going "over the rainbow." Along with her house and her dog Toto (__Terry__), she's swept from her black-and-white world to the magical, beautiful, and dangerous and Technicolor land of Oz by a tornado. Dorothy's house lands on and kills the wicked witch who rules the Land of the Munchkins, little people who think at first that Dorothy herself must be a witch. The Wicked Witch of the West (__Margaret Hamilton__), sister of the dead witch, threatens Dorothy. But Glinda (__Billie Burke__), the Good Witch of the North, gives Dorothy the dead witch's enchanted Ruby Slippers, and the slippers protect her. Glinda advises that if Dorothy wants to go home to Kansas, she should seek the aid of the Wizard of Oz, who lives in the Emerald City. To get there, Dorothy sets off down the Yellow Brick Road._

Ziva was strangely attracted to the movie. She walked over to the counter with the movie in her hand.

"Did you find everything okay?" The bearded man asked when she placed the movie on the counter and slid it over to him.

"Yes thank you."

"Do you have a card with us? If not you could fill out this application-"Ziva cut him off wanted to get back to the hospital to check on Tony.

"No I don't have a card and no I don't want one thanks anyways."

"Yeah sure." Ziva felt a little bad for being so harsh with the man, so she quickly turned around and picked up a popcorn bucket and opened the freeze to get two cokes.

"But I will want a popcorn bucket and these two sodas." Ziva told him with a smile on her face, which lightened the hurt mood. The man rang up the popcorn, the sodas and movie. Ziva watched as the total went from six dollars to fifteen then to the final total.

"Alright. Your total is $28.42" Ziva thought it was a little expensive, but if it was for Tony then it was worth it.

He had almost died with her, and she thought she owed him that much. She grabbed the popcorn, soda and movie as she walked out the door.

"Have a good day." The man called out.

"You too." She replied.

When she made it back to Tony's room she was relived to find he was alright. He had barley moved an inch.

"Hey looks whose back." He called out.

"Yes I am back."

"What'd you get? Terminator, Kill Bill, The Proposal." Tony started saying many titles of adult movies.

Ziva walked over to him and took out the movie, which was in the bucket of popcorn.

"No, I got the Wizard of Oz."

"Oh. Alright well then slide that sucker in."

"Excuse me?" Ziva asked shocked and confused by what Tony had just said.

"Put the movie in the DVD player Ziva." He clarified.

"Oh." Ziva managed and quickly smiled.

Tony looked at her eye, which still seemed to be red. He was wondering if she had cried for him. Even though he didn't want her to be unhappy he couldn't help to feel a little flattered.

"So, did you cry for me? You know when I pulled a Booth."

"Pulled a what?" Ziva asked as she placed the DVD in the DVD player.

"You know Booth from Bones the show where Booth and Bones are partners. Bones is a doctor who does this thing with bones where she can see the deepest darkest secrets those people had before they died and turned into a skeleton. Come on you really haven't seen Bones?"

"No Tony I haven't really seen Bones, and be quiet the movie is starting." Tony sighed and looked at the television screen.

"You never answered my question."

"No Tony I wasn't crying for you I was crying because you were never going to pay for the five hundred dollars I used on your door."

"Thanks for the memory."

Ziva smiled and reached for the soda giving one to Tony. Tony took a few sips then set the bottle on the table next to the bed. It was a while into the movie when the munchkins were beginning to come out that Ziva asked Tony a question.

"_She fell from the sky, she fell very far and Kansas, she says, is the name of the star.  
Kansas, she says, is the name of the star." _

"I didn't know Kansas was a star."

"It's not." Tony corrected her thinking. "They think it's a star because she fell from the sky, but Kansas is not a star."

"Then how did she get in this Munchkin land. You can't fall into another land. With a house. "  
"It's a movie Ziva. Make believe. No you can't fall into another world, but in this particular story you can."

"It still doesn't make sense."

"JUST WATCH THE MOVIE ZIVA! SHHHHHHH!" Tony playfully yelled because he was really getting into the movie.

Just as Tony finished yelling at Ziva Gibbs walked into the room.

"What is it with you two and kid's movies?" Both Ziva and Tony looked at him with innocent looks, as the movies music played in the background. **  
**_"The house began to pitch. The kitchen took a slitch. It landed on the Wicked Witch. In the middle of a ditch. Which was not a healthy situation for the Wicked Witch...Who began to twitch and was reduced to just a stitch. Of what was once the Wicked Witch."_

**Well, there you have it. I know nothing big happened in this chapter, but I wanted it to be mellow to give them both time to heal. The next chapter is going to be intense so I wanted this one to be easy going, and not so intense. I hope you liked it. Thanks for the reviews! **

**Agent T **


	19. Chapter 19

**Hey everyone. I've gotten so many nice comments and I would like to thank you for them. Hope you enjoy this chapter. If you have forgotten Lillian Silverman is Tony's next door neighbor, or should I say used to be seeing as the building is gone. Steven Jones is the firefighter that helped Tony and Ziva get out alive. They reappear in this chapter, and that's why I wrote this reminder. Thanks for the comments, again. **

**Agent T**

"DiNozzo." Gibbs spoke in a flat voice.

"Boss." Tony replied.

"We need to talk."

"Yeah I figured that out on my own." Tony was dreading this moment.

He remembered telling Gibbs's, Kelly's message. Tony only imaged the questions Gibbs was going to ask him. He picked up the remote for the DVD player and pressed pause.

"Hey, Ziva." Gibbs looked toward Ziva, who had stood up from the chair she had been sitting in, by Tony's bed side.

Gibbs nodded toward the door, and Ziva understood he wanted a minute alone with Tony.

"I'll go pop the popcorn in the cafeteria downstairs." She picked up the bucket and walked out the door.

"Tony-"

"Look I know what you're gonna ask. When I died I saw-"

"S'not what I'm here for."

"Oh." Tony said confused.

He didn't understand Gibbs reason for being here.

"Tony when Ziva found you in your apartment you were unconscious and had a long cut on your face. There was nothing sharp around you, and you were to far from the table to have fallen. I want to know who did this to you."

Tony knew who had hit him, but the pity he felt for this person would cause him to lie.

"I don't know boss. I'm sorry."

Gibbs threw his arm towards Tony and gave him a classic head slap.

"Never apologize. I guess you'll tell me when you're ready."

Tony looked at Gibbs icy blue eyes longingly. He wanted to tell him who had almost killed him and Ziva, but the motive this person had was much greater for him to 'spill his guts.' Gibbs stood up wearily and walked out the door glancing one last time at Tony's undecided expression.

_Meanwhile_

Ziva walked into the cafeteria. In the far right corner was a microwave next to a toaster and fridge. She strolled over to that area when she noticed Lillian Silverman at the cash register.

"Lillian?" Ziva asked when she stood behind the blonde woman.

"Ziva! Oh my goodness you're alright." I saw you go into the apartment building and I thought that-"  
"I am fine."

"And Tony? Did you ever find him?"

"Yes and thankfully he's getting better."

"Yeah well I have to get back to work."

"Oh right." Ziva said waving goodbye as she headed toward the microwave.

When Ziva finished heating the popcorn she made her way to the elevator. She could smell the delicious scent of butter. Ziva couldn't wait to make it back to Tony's room to take a bit. She picked up a kernel and popped it into her mouth ignoring the excessive heat. The taste was irresistibly good so she picked up another kernel. The elevator doors opened and she finished her last bites and walked into Tony's pale colored room.

"Ooooo popcorn. You shouldn't have." Tony said as he reached for the bucket of popcorn.

"I didn't." Ziva said pulling the bucket of delicious popcorn away from him.

"Oh c'mon!" Tony looked at the delicious popcorn like it was a gift from god.

"You are not allowed too."

"Oh please I'm fine I haven't had real food in the longest time. A little popcorn won't hurt. I've been eating pudding cups and jello for like ever. C'mon Ziva please."

Ziva couldn't resist his begging.

"Very well, but not too much because if you get sick I'm going to be blamed for it."

"Hey you already let me drink soda. Why are you getting all touchy about me eating popcorn?"

"Oh shut up." Ziva said picking up the remote and pressing play.

The sound of the scarecrow singing filled the hospital room. When the movie was closer to the end Tony started feeling uncomfortable. Ziva noticed his fidgeting, and wondered what he could be feeling.

"Tony, are you alright?" Ziva asked as she looked at his now sweaty face.

"Yeah I'm fine."  
_"I'll get you my pretty and your little dog too. Ha-ha." _Ziva could hear the witch as she asked Tony how he felt.

When the movie was over Ziva looked over at Tony who looked pale and sweaty.

"Tony you are not alright." She said in a shaky voice.

"Ziva I'm a little cold." He voice was just above a whisper.

"I knew I shouldn't have fed you the popcorn."

"It's not my stomach it's my head that cut feels like its on fire."

"Let me call the doctor."

"No! I'm fine." Tony didn't want to see another doctor.

He was tired of the hospital he wanted to go home.

"Don't be ridiculous Tony. I'll be right back." Just like that Ziva was gone.

_Meanwhile_

Gibbs was at his desk as was Agent McGee. They were still working on the Lt. Arnold Penchosky case.

"Boss…I um looked though the Lt.'s resent calls and there's only one that keeps reoccurring. It was a private number, from this state, and the phone has only called the Lt.'s number, which means-"

"Someone was after the Lt. and they got to him." Gibbs finished his sentence.

"Yeah, well I traced the call to a home address 1425 Hampton Rd. the residence is registered to-"

"Steven Jones."

"Yeah." McGee confirmed.

"Let's go." Gibbs ordered, and McGee retrieved his weapon and badge.

**Are you guys dieing to know who hit Tony and attempted to kill him? Read this chapter over and over again until you see the two names that don't fit. Take a guess, and let me know what you think in a comment (If you want). Season 8 is starting in September in the US. I am so excited to see what happens. Thanks for the comments.**

**Agent T **


	20. Chapter 20

**Hello everyone.** **Thanks for the comments and the support. Hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**Agent T**

Tony leaned over regurgitating the popcorn he had in taken. He could only think of how awful vomiting was. When he finished he lifted his head and said, "Brings back good memories of college."

Ziva let out a loud,"Ha!"

Tony turned around and looked at her with a playfully angry face. "You're the reason I'm puking up my organs over here."

"No it's your fault for begging like a dog." Ziva said and plastered a grin on her face.

The doctor had been standing next to the toilet Tony had been 'letting lose' in. He heard their conversation and decided to advise them of the dangers on not following a doctor's orders.

"Agent DiNozzo I hope that next time you decide to eat something it is part of the meals I have ordered for you. I don't want to see you get worse." The doctor helped Tony to his feet and walked him over to the sink so he could wash out the left over food.

"Yeah I think your right doc, but it's all her fault she forced me to eat it." Tony pointed at Ziva. "Like in the 'Sixth Sense,' were one of the ghost was a little girl who was forced to eat this poisonous soup her stepmother was making her. Well, she wasn't really forced too but she didn't know it was poisonous. It was created in 1999 and directed by the brilliant Shyamalan. God that movie gave me the creeps. Haley Joel Osment did an incredible job playing the boy who could see dead people. I had trouble sleeping the night I watched it-" The doctor cut Tony off before he could give a summary on the movie.

"Agent DiNozzo you asked her for the popcorn, and Miss David next time don't give in so easily." The doctor glanced at Ziva when he finished his statement, and walked Tony over to his bed.

"I did not give in." She argued, but dropped the argument once she noticed it wasn't a 'big deal.'

"If you have any other pains call the nurse. I was actually on my way to see you when my beeper rang with your room number. I was going to let you know that I think that you can leave tomorrow. I want to keep you here tonight for observation. If you are fine during the night you can be discharged tomorrow afternoon."

"Oh really? Yes! I can go home and get a shower." Tony spoke loudly, and started to sing about taking the shower.

Ziva looked at him with a curious look then turned to thank the doctor as he left the room.

"I'm just doing my job Miss David."  
"Please call me Ziva." Ziva added a bit of flirtation to the conversation and Tony noticed her sudden change.

Tony could tell she was falling for his doctor, and he didn't like it. He cleared his throat and neither one of them looked at him.

"Well, Ziva you can call me Jim. Hey, do you want to grab a bit to eat?" Jim looked at Tony then added, "Well, after you're off duty of course."

"Yes, yes that sounds nice." Ziva gave him her number.

"I'll pick you up at 8:00 tomorrow sound good?"

"Tomorrow will be just fine."

"Alright." Jim agreed and left with a smile on his face.

Ziva stood in the doorway looking after him. Tony only looked at her face. He thought to himself for a while. _How could she be interested in THAT? I mean the guy looks so desperate. She can't find him more attractive then me. Right? Ugh! How could she even look at him? I mean I'll give him credit for saving my life and everything, but COME ON asking Ziva out on a date when I'm laying right here. Is he serious? I hope she cancels because that guy looks like a total creep. What if she doesn't cancel? What if he tries something with her? What if she wants him to try something? Why would she say yes to that? What if she loves him? No, that can't be it she just met him. Although, it could be love at first sight like in the fairytales. What do I care? I'm just her partner. Right? Why do I care so much if she goes out on a date with someone else? I guess my real question is, 'Why does it hurt so much to see her go out with someone else?'_

"How do you feel?" Ziva asked, knocking Tony out of his trance.

"Just peachy." He said sarcastically.

Ziva walked over to sit next to his bed. Then they both sat in silence with thoughts flying through their heads.

**Hey everyone I made this chapter very short because I think this Tiva moment needed its own chapter. The next one is going to be longer, and about Tony's injure to the head, as well as the case. Thanks for the comments.**

**Agent T **


	21. Chapter 21

**Hey everyone, I'm sorry for not writing for a while but I've been so busy and tired. I really wanted to fit this chapter into my schedule. I hope you enjoy it, and I will try my best to add more chapters. Thanks for waiting and for the reviews I really appreciate it. **

**Agent T**

Gibbs and McGee stood in front of Steven Jones door. McGee had knocked three times, and there was no answer. He stepped up again and knocked with more force.

"Steven Jones NCIS we need to speak with you." A loud crash echoed in their ears, and they immediately retrieved their weapons and kicked in the door.

Steven Jones was lying on the ground with a knife in his chest and a large cut on his face similar to the cut on Tony's face.

"McGee!"

"On it boss." McGee was already dialing nine one one before Gibbs finished his instructions.

"Yes I need an ambulance at 1425 Hampton Rd. we have a stabbed man in need of urgent medical attention."

Gibbs removed the knife from Stevens left shoulder, and applied pressure to the wound. The firefighter was still conscious, but in horrible condition. His words were slurred, but Gibbs could still understand him.

"Who did this to you?" Gibbs whispered into his ear.

Steven gargled on blood that began to ooze out of his mouth.

"Neighbor…his neighbor…save him." Steven struggled with his words then slowly closed his eyes.

"Steven! Steven stay with me! Stay with me c'mon open your eyes Steven! Steven!" Gibbs checked his pulse, and there was no heart beat. He began CPR knowing that it was no good. Steven Jones's time of death 8:35pm. He was gone, and the only lead Gibbs had was 'neighbor.' The medics arrived, and McGee ran out to them, but it didn't make a difference because this hero was lost. The medics wheeled Steven out of the house when they were finished checking him. They had laid a white sheet over his body signifying he was dead. McGee walked into the house and placed the knife, which was laying on the floor, in an evidence bag.

"I'll get this to Abby maybe she can pull some prints off of it." He looked at Gibbs who shook his head giving him the 'okay.' When McGee left Gibbs began to process the scene.

_Next Morning_

"Well Agent DiNozzo I think we can set up the discharge papers." Jim stated causing Tony to plaster a classical DiNozzo smile on his face.

"Great!" Ziva laughed at his enthusiasm.

Jim left leaving Tony and Ziva alone in the hospital room.

"Do you want to go home after this or pick up something to eat?" Ziva asked Tony guessing he might be hungry.

"Pizza and then the office I wan to go to work not home even if I have to sit on the side lines. I could help with the case." Ziva was hesitate.

"No I think you should go home and rest Tony you getting out of the hospital today and that same day you want to go back to work. Give your body a break."  
"I want to help I stay at my desk, and be a very good boy I promise." Tony said in a little child accent, and his puppy dog face.

"If you start feeling bad let me know and I'll take you home, but you have to promise you'll tell me before you faint."

"I promise." When Tony finished his sentence Jim walked in.

"Alright Agent DiNozzo you're all set. Your clothes are in that cabinet the top shelf." Jim pointed to a cabinet in the far left corner of the room.

Ziva rose from where she was sitting and told Tony she would wait outside while he got dressed. She walked out of the room with Jim, and Tony knew they were going to talk. He put on his clothes, and then went over to the door and spied on Ziva and Jim's conversation. Tony opened the door just a crack so he could hear better, and then listened to their plans for tonight.

"So, um you ready for tonight."

"Yes. Why should I not be?

"No you should because I mean it's our first date and…" Tony couldn't help, but smile at how weak this man sounded.

He began to think of the situation. _I can't believe this guy. This is Ziva not some chick you can pick up that easily. How can Ziva like this thing? He was so awkward with her. If that were me I would be all over her. I'd be cracking jokes, and making her laugh not ruining the mood. Ziva was going to dump this guy no doubt about it. She couldn't really like him. Could she? _Tony was concentrating so hard on his thoughts he didn't realize until it was too late he was leaning to hard on the door. The door flung open, and Tony looked at Jim then Ziva with wide eyes.

"Oh hey I was just um…"

"Eavesdropping." Ziva stated.

"No!" Tony said dramatically with a smile, and then looked at her seriously.

Jim's beeper rang, and then he looked up at Ziva to say goodbye.

"I'll see you tonight then, and feel better Agent DiNozzo."

"Yep thanks doc." Tony said sarcastically causing Ziva to give him a curious look.

"You don't like him?" Ziva asked know the answer, but wanting Tony to say it.

"He's alright."

"Ha," Ziva gave a sharp laugh then continued, "Jealous."

"I am NOT!" Tony said, but the truth was painted all over his face.

"You know what maybe you should be think about what you're going to wear not about what I think of the guy. I mean, why do you even care if I like him or not?"

"I don't." Ziva lied.

"Then why did you ask?" He was happy he had stumped her.

It took a lot of thinking to crash Ziva's train of thought. The elevator door rang and she stepped out in a hurry. He looked out after her, and then began to sing,"Doctor, doctor give me the news I got a bad case of loving' you."

Ziva only looked back at him and said, "Yes you are so jealous."

**Well there you have it. Hope you enjoy it. I will try to add more chapters, but as I said before I am pretty tight on my schedule. September 21****st**** Tuesday on CBS is the season 8 premiere I am so excited I have been waiting all summer. The first episode is going to be called **_**The Spider and the Fly. **_**Just some fun facts. Thanks again.**

**Agent T **


	22. Chapter 22

**Hey Everyone! I'm back in the saddle. I am so excited to get back to my fanfic. The reason I haven't been writing, well it's a long story, school. I have had homework to the roof for weeks and with Thanksgiving break coming I'm going to have a lot of free time so I'm going to catch up on my writing. For Thanksgiving I want to thank all my reviews! Enjoy! **

**Agent T **

Gibbs and McGee stood in the bullpen silently thinking of Steven Jones last words.

"McGee I want you to talk to Steven Jones neighbors. See what you can find."

"I already did." McGee stated and stood silent once again.

"And?" Gibbs questioned impatiently.

"Oh right. Um…"McGee ran to his desk.

"C'mon McGee." Gibbs rushed.

"Okay I talked to Lisa Gerald and she said that she saw a tall black figure in Steven's yard, but didn't think anything of it. She was in the shower when Steven was stabbed her husband is a witness and he's innocent as well because he was, well, in the shower too."

Gibbs eyebrows lifted when he realized what McGee said.

"Steven's other neighbors have been on a trip in Italy for the past two weeks, and the people across the street moved two years ago. We got nothing."

"I know that McGee so that means…" Gibbs looked at McGee very strictly.

"That means I'll…I actually don't know what to do boss."

"Talk to Abby, and help her out with the knife, see what you find and let me know."

"On it boss."

_Abby's Lab_

"What do you want McGee?" Abby asked frustrated.

"I came to see if you found anything interesting on the knife, and help out with anything."

"I told you if I found anything I would e-mail you, and I work best alone." Abby seemed unAbby.

"Is something wrong?" McGee was wondering if he had done something to bother her.

"No I'm just worried and tired and scared cause of Tony and everything that happened and I just keep on going. I mean I haven't stopped all day, and my Caf Pows are just not working, and I just want to go home because of everything that happened with the building and Tony and Ziva and this psycho killer who's after Tony. They hit him on the head McGee and he almost died. I stood there in the hospital and I mean I haven't stopped to mourn about it or at least think about it and I'm just so…so…so…"

"Overwhelmed." McGee answered Abby's thoughts.

"Yeah. That could have been you and me or Gibbs and Ducky. It could have been any of us. Tony and Ziva could have died."

"But they didn't."

"I said they could have McGee! I just scared that if I don't catch this guy it won't be could have it'll be it did. Tony could die. Leave I got to finish this."

"You just said a couple minutes ago you wanted to take a break." McGee said confused at Abby's sudden change.

"That's before I realized if I don't finish Tony could die. He could be killed McGee."

"Abby stop." Abby started typing rapidly fast on her keyboard ignoring McGee's request.

McGee put his hands on top of Abby's and forced her to stop she turned to look at him in anger, but I melted quickly when she realized he was right. She needed to stop and talk to him before she could go on if not she would never catch the bad guy.

"Listen Abby. We risk our lives everyday. That doesn't mean we have to deal with the fear alone. I'm here for you just like you're here for me. Tony and Ziva didn't die and you're right they could have, but they didn't and you have to move on. We are all going to have to go through that moment were we survive an almost death experience, and at first it'll scare us, but we got to keep going. As a team we will keep going because there are people out there who need us to keep going. Tony needs you. The team needs you, but not like this. Exhaustion is not going to help you find the answers. We'll find the answers you and me like we always do. I'll be here helping you out and we'll get through this little scare together. Everything will be alright. I promise."

"Thanks McGee you always know what to say." Abby wrapped him in a tender hug.

"Alright enough fear talk there's work to do." Abby said and turned to her computer (baby) with a heart warming smile on her face.

**Alright, I hope you like it. Isn't this chapter so cute? It was full of McAbby love. It is short so I'm going to add another chapter right away. Hope you like it. Thanks to my reviewers!**

**Agent T **


	23. Chapter 23

**Hey! I don't really have any news so I'd just like to say thanks for the reviews, and enjoy! **

**Agent T**

Tony and Ziva arrived at Ziva's apartment. Tony was still getting used to the idea that everything he owed burned in a horrible inferno.

"What do you want?" Ziva asked from the refrigerator.

"Got any pizza?" Tony had been craving pizza since yesterday afternoon.

"No." Tony's hopeful smile fell.

"There's a pizzeria right across the street. Guess what it's called."

"What?"

"Guess." Ziva teased him.

"Tony's Pizzeria." They smiled.

"So do you want to go?"

"Sure." Tony was anxious to get some steaming hot pizza in his mouth.

They both moved to the door and bumped into each other by accident. Tony's chest brushed against Ziva, which caused her to hold her breath for a few seconds. Tony's heart stopped at the sudden heat of Ziva's body close to him. Ziva looked him in the eyes and awarded herself a breath. When she exhaled Tony held him breath so he wouldn't be tempted by the delicious scent of her lips. He cleared his throat and turned the knob on the door. Ziva was frozen in shock by the sudden electric wire that had just been released in her body. She took a second to recover then followed Tony out the door. They walked in silence across the street, and into the restaurant. Tony opened the door for Ziva hoping she had already forgotten their encounter, but it was the only thought in her mind. Tony was the first to comment on the delicious aroma of the pizzeria.

"Yes it does smell quite yummy in here."

"Yummy? I've never hear you say anything was yummy." Tony gave her a curious look.

"Well then I guess it's a good time to start."

"So where's Jim taking you tonight?"

"He hasn't told me yet. He wants it to be a surprise." Tony went cold.

"I don't like the sound of that."

"Why not?" Ziva was wondering if Tony was worried that Jim might try and hurt her.

"Well, I mean you just met the guy and he's taking you on a surprise date. Really? Whose car are you taking anyway? Yours right."

"No, actually we are taking his car and I don't think there's anything wrong with a surprise first date."

"Ziva! C'mon! Really? You don't even know this guy and you're just going to go anywhere with him. What if he tries something and you can't get away."

"Ha." Tony felt like an idiot for thinking Ziva couldn't get away from Jim the guy he had been laughing at for being so weak.

"Okay well yes you could get away from him, but what if-"Ziva cut him off. She was fed up with his games.

"Enough Tony! I'm going to go out with Jim tonight. We are going to take him car. He is going to take me somewhere, and we are going to have a good time. Stop treating me like I'm sixteen years old."

"I just want to make sure you're safe." Tony replied with his classic doggy eyes.

"You are acting like such a big brother." Ziva said in relaxed voice, but noticed Tony tense up.

She grew a little nervous at his reaction, but refused to show it. Even though Tony had heard her call him a big brother before it hurt him much more this time. Maybe it was because of all they had been through or the fact that he never viewed her as a sister, but something more. He thought to himself, "_Breathe in breathe out. Dinozzo men don't cry." _He focused his thoughts on the menu and ignored Ziva standing next to him. They ordered a larger pepperoni, sausage pizza and went back to the office. They both ate on the way over, and said nothing to each other. Tony was the first to walk into the bullpen, and see Gibbs sitting at his desk. He was the only one I the bullpen. Tony assumed McGee was with Abby as always.

"Hey boss." Gibbs looked up at the sound as Tony walked over to his desk, threw out the empty pizza box and set down his new set of gear because his old gear had burned in the fire.

"I don't need to see you here today, Dinozzo. You too David." Ziva looked at Gibbs after she set her gear down.

"Gibbs I'm fine." Gibbs looked at her intently.

"No, you have a broken leg, and you died and came back to life. Go home."

"What home?" Tony asked with an attitude.

"Gibbs there's someone out there who wants to kill me and you want me to leave, to just let them go."

"You wouldn't be in this situation if you would just tell me what's going on." Tony was quiet.

"Who ever did this to you Tony almost killed you and Ziva. Don't forget Ziva was down in that pile of rocks too. She was innocent and yet she almost died. Steven Jones one of the brave firefighters who helped pull you and Ziva out was hit in the face like you, but that's not all he was stabbed and killed this morning possibly by the same person who hit you in the face. This is all because you don't want to tell us a name." Tony felt a tsunami of guilt wash over him. A man was dead because of him. An innocent man was dead because of him, but that's not what scared Tony the most. It was that Ziva was almost killed by this person. He knew who had hit him, but he felt such great pity for this person. This didn't matter to him anymore he was determined to talk. Gibbs spoke before he could say another word.

"Neighbor his neighbor were the last words out of Steven's mouth. Do you have any idea what he meant?"

"Yeah." Tony answered. He was having trouble speaking.

"My neighbor Lillian Silverman she works in the hospital cafeteria as the casher."

"Lillian did this to you?" Ziva asked with a shocked expression plastered on her face.

Gibbs was already on the phone calling McGee. He told him to meet him in the garage in five. McGee agreed and scurried upstairs to retrieve his gear. Tony and Ziva turned to grab their gear when Gibbs stopped them.

"No! You stay here. And you have to explain to Vance why you were with holding information." Gibbs said pointing his trigger finger at Tony.

Gibbs left, and Ziva sat down to rest her leg. Tony took a deep breath and began towards the director's office.

**Well hope you enjoyed it! I think I'll put up another chapter tomorrow or should I say today because it's already midnight. Thanks to my reviewers and I'd like to hear some ideas if that's alright. I like to incorporate your thoughts in my writing sometimes. I've be a little blank lately and I would like a juicy idea. Once again thanks and keep reading!**

**Agent T **


	24. Chapter 24

**Hello Everyone! I am putting up this chapter to focus on some things I left out in my story (pointed out by BnBfanatic.) I went back and read my chapters to refresh my memory because it has been so long since I've written that I forgot. I wrote down notes on what I have left out and my challenge is to incorporate previous thoughts in future situations if that makes any sense. Anyway, I hope you enjoy! Thanks to my reviewers! Sorry for the long author note. Happy Thanksgiving! **

**Agent T**

Tony walked up the stairs forcing his mind to think of something else beside where his legs were taking him. As Tony watched his legs climb one step after another he suddenly remembered he never found out how he was able to walk. Tony remembered being buried in the debris and feeling the worst pain in his back and an impeccable numbness in his legs. _Weird thing is Jim didn't say anything._ Tony thought to himself. _Maybe I'll ask him later when he comes to pick Ziva up. Oh great now I'm thinking about them going out again. Why can't I just forget she's going out with some else for one whole hour? I wonder if she feels like this when I have one night stands. Maybe I am getting a little old for that. Nah. _Tony had been successful clearing his head, but not until he reached the directors door. _Well if I die in here at least I had one great tasting pizza. _

_Meanwhile _

McGee and Gibbs reached the hospital in less than ten minutes. They made their way to the cafeteria and searched around for any signs that Lillian Silverman had been there. She was no where to be found. Gibbs walked up to another cashier to get some answers. He looked at her named tag. It read, "Laura" in big italic letters.

"Hello Laura." Gibbs put too much emphasis on her name to make her feel comfortable.

"I'm Special Agent Gibbs and this is Special Agent McGee is it alright if we ask you a few questions?"

"Well I'm kind of busy. You know how business get's crazy during the holidays."

"No not really." Gibbs answered rudely.

"Do you know this woman?" Gibbs asked as he held up a picture of Lillian Silverman.

"Yeah that's Lillian right Lillian Silverman. Is she alright?"

"When was the last time you saw her?"

"Um…in the break room about five minutes ago." Gibbs didn't wait for her to finish.

He was already on his way to the back of the cafeteria. It wasn't to long before Lillian Silverman came out in a hurry pointing a gun directly toward McGee who was standing behind Gibbs. Gibbs didn't have time to reaction. She pulled the trigger and McGee feel to the ground. Gibbs whipped his gun out and fired mercilessly watching as Lillian Silverman feel to the ground oozing blood from her right and left leg. Gibb ran over to her and grabbed her weapon then turned to help his injured partner.

"Ow! Ow! Boss! Ow!" McGee yelped in pain as Gibbs applied pressure on his wound.

"Oh McGee quit your whining it's just a scratch."

"It doesn't feel like a scratch boss. Ow!"

"Well, it doesn't look like one either." Gibbs replied which confused McGee.

"What?"

"Never-mind." Gibbs replied while he dialed nine one one.

"Boss."

"Yeah."

"Am I gonna be okay?" McGee asked with trapped tears in his eyes.

_Meanwhile_

Tony watched as Director Vance rose from his chair.

"Agent Dinozzo do you know why you're here?"

"Because I stole your chocolate kisses and now you're going to make me eat a whole cake the size of a truck tire all by myself." Tony laughed after he said this to the director then realized how inappropriate it sounded.

"It's from Matilda. You know the movie with the little girl-"

"I know the movie Dinozzo, but we are not here to discuss about a little girl's life. This is not a game Agent Dinozzo. I thought you would have been smart enough to leave you smart ass attitude outside my door, but I can see now I was wrong. Do you even realize the situation you're in?"

"Yes sir I do."

"Really, because it seems to that you don't even care about the trouble I have had to go through the couple days for you to keep that badge." The director pointed at Tony badge that was clicked onto his belt.

"I was put in the line of fire by the CIA. They're telling me that this Lillian Silverman isn't who she really says she is. She works for the Russians and has been undercover for the past three weeks in D.C. Agent Dinozzo you better start giving me some answers or you're looking at charges for conspiracy and betrayal of the United States."

Tony stood shocked from the information that had just been given to him.

"I didn't know she was a spy. I swear director I had no idea."

"Just tell me what you know." The director urged.

"She told me her name was Lillian Silverman. That she had just moved from New Jersey to D.C to look for jobs and be closer to family. She was well…-"

"Spit it out Dinozzo." The director was becoming inpatient.

"She wasn't that wealthy. In fact she was really poor. She didn't have any furniture in her apartment and had barely enough money to eat. One day she forgot her key in her apartment and it was about three A.M. when I came home and saw her sitting out side her apartment. She told me that she had tried to call the landlord but he wasn't home so I offered her my couch. Of course she accepted and when I went in I put my extra change in a huge jar of money I had sitting on table in my kitchen. I was stupid. I didn't hide it. Well, she saw it and the next morning she was gone with the money. I had about two hundred dollars in that jar so I was angry enough that I put out a bolo and had her arrested. I felt bad because she really needed the money so I dropped the charges after twenty four hours past. I think she was really angry at me for putting her in jail, but it was her fault for stealing my money. I mean I was just trying to do the right thing."

"Her name is really Alisa Vasiliev. And she wasn't angry that you put her in jail because of the money, but because you put her in jail when she had to complete a mission. She failed the mission and because of it the Russians think she's a betrayer. They are thinking about getting rid of her. She's back to finish that mission and possibly for a little vengeance." The director looked at Tony when he finished his statement.

"You don't have anything to worry about Agent Dinozzo I will have 24/7 protection." Tony didn't know how to respond.

"Am I still in trouble for keeping information?"

"What information?" The director winked at Tony.

Tony knew that the director would let it slide because Tony had no idea that his neighbor was actually a Russian spy with vengeance."

"Thank you director." Tony walked toward the door and turned around when the director called his name.

"Dinozzo."

"Yes?"

"Don't let it happen again."

"Yes sir." Tony closed the door and made his way down to the very hectic bullpen.

Abby was running around in her platforms and flailing her arms.  
"Oh my god! Oh my God! Oh my God!" Ziva was desperately trying to calm her down, but nothing she said to Abby comforted her.

Tony began to worry as he made his way toward his desk.

"Hey what's going on?" He asked when he got in the center of his desk and Ziva's.

"It's McGee! Oh my God! Oh my God!" Tony walked toward her and grabbed both her shoulders.

"What happened to McGee, Abby?" He asked anxious to know what had happened to his friend.

"He was shot by that Lillian woman. Ducky went to the hospital after he told me." Tony heard Ziva gasp. He assumed that Abby had been so nervous she didn't even tell Ziva what happened.

"And Ducky wouldn't let me go with him because he said I needed to tell you guys. He said it would be better to tell you in person, but that's stupid because I could have just called and I'm clueless as to what's going on and how McGee's doing and-"Tony cut her off.

"It okay Abby get your things and will all go together. Okay."

"Okay." Abby answered and raced down to her lab to retrieve her things and put her "babies" to sleep.

Ziva waited as Tony grabbed his things.

"Is everything alright with you and director?"

"Yeah."

"That's good. I hope McGee alright."

"He's tough."

"I hope tougher then we think." Ziva looked at Tony with worried eyes.

"McGee can take bullet."

"Oh my God! Oh my God!" Abby over heard Tony's comment and began her chant once again.

"McGee and bullet don't mix Tony. He's going to be alright. Tony tell me he's going to be alright."

"He's going to be _fine_ Abby don't worry."

"How could you say that? How could I not worry when McGee could be dieing?"

"Abby." Ziva hugged her quickly the pulled away to look at her face.

"Let's go fine out if he is going to be fine."

"Okay." Ziva put an arm around Abby and walked her to the elevator. Tony followed the two ladies carrying their bags.

**Happy Thanksgiving! **

**Agent T **


	25. Chapter 25

**Hey everyone. I said in my last chapter I would be giving details I had forgotten to put in previous chapters…well, I lied this is the chapter that will answer previous questions if that makes any sense. When I was writing my last chapter I thought where I ended it was a good spot to build suspense with McGee so I am completing my mission in this chapter. Hope you enjoy. Thanks to all my reviewers!**

**Agent T**

Abby ran into the hospital without waiting for Tony, Ziva and Palmer to exit the car. She was desperate to hear news of McGee's condition. Tony was having trouble entering the hospital and Ziva sensed something was wrong. Palmer followed Abby while Tony and Ziva spoke.

"Tony, is everything okay?" She asked curious to see what was making Tony act so strangely.

"It's just I was just here, and I was having memories of my sick days."

"Oh." Ziva lifted her eyebrows to the strange answer then walked toward the sliding doors of the hospital entrance.

They caught up with Abby who had been detained by security because of her "crazy" appearance and because a federal agent had been shot so they had to check identification for everyone who walked in and out of the hospital doors. Abby and Palmer showed their NCIS certification and scurried off to the elevator doors. Abby's black vintage lace poncho flowed behind her with every step she took. Tony and Ziva ran to them ignoring the securities admonish to slow down while they flashed their badges toward the securities direction. They arrived when the elevator doors opened and stepped in with a much frantic Abby Sciuto and a worried Palmer.

_Meanwhile_

Ducky stared intently at McGee's x-ray to be positive he had fixed every problem. Once Ducky had finished examining the x-ray's he walked over to McGee who was being bandaged up by a very attractive nurse.

"Ow! Could you be any harder?"

"That's what she said." Ducky overheard the nurse as he stood by McGee's bed side.

McGee didn't like the nurse that had been assigned to him, and was grateful when Ducky gave her a stern look that told her to leave and give them privacy. The nurse understood the message and finished her work.

"All done! I hope you get well soon Agent McGee." She gave him a sweet look then walked out into the hall closing the door behind her.

"Ducky how much pain medication was I given? I just saw a really beautiful girl flirt with me and that can't be normal."

"Ha-ha! Timothy I don't think you realize the power you have over some women. You know that reminds me of a time when I was in grad school and there was this gor-"

"Ducky…um…I would like to hear about your time in grad school but there's a case and I would like to know if I could help."

"Oh yes. Of course." Ducky placed the x-rays on the light box and pointed to the fractures as he explained the severity of the wounds.

"Well Timothy I see that you have a minor fracture on your left forearm due to the bullets trajectory. Seeing as you're in perfectly good healthy, apart from the bullet wound, I don't see why you should be back to work in two days. Now you have to change the bandage every few hours to prevent infection. If you have any pain take aspirin and place some ice on the wound. I think you're going to be just fine." Just as Ducky finished Abby came barging through the door with Tony, Ziva and Palmer at her feet. Palmer walked to the back of the room near McGee's unused food tray and watched as Abby exploded panic in every direction.

"Oh McGee! Oh my God! Are you okay? You got shot! I came here as fast as I could and oh my God! Oh McGee your arm! Oh you poor baby! Are you in pain?"

"He better not be in pain we have a case to solve." Gibbs said as he strolled into McGee's hospital room with a fresh cup a Starbuck's coffee.

"Abby I'm fine it's just a scratch." McGee gave her a warm comforting smile and Abby threw her arms around him locking him in an inescapable Abby hug.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Abby the arm!"

"Oh sorry."

Tony stood in the back corner with Ziva watching as Abby hugged, Gibbs watched, Ducky smiled, and Palmer wished he could get shot to get an Abby hug.

"Well look at the bright side McGee." Tony began. "What a better place to get shot at but in a hospital." Tony couldn't help but laughed then realized that his laughing at McGee was wrong when Gibbs gave him a good slap on the back of the head.

"Thanks boss."

"Anytime, Dinozzo." Gibbs then took a sip of his coffee.

Ziva who was standing in front of Tony laughed then made her way to McGee's bedside.

"Can I get you anything McGee?" Ziva asked trying her best to comfort her injured partner.

"No but thanks anyway Ziva." Before anyone could ask another question Jim dashed into the room.

"I heard that NCIS was here and well I thought I'd come and make sure everything was alright." Ziva's eyes began to glow at the sight of Jim, and Tony noticed her every move.

"Yeah you were coming to make sure Ziva was alright." Tony's jealously was out of control.

He became a walking inferno of hate as he watched Ziva light up with joy at this man's presence. Ziva gave him a dark look them turned to Jim who was looking at Tony.

"No it's just that…well you were just here Agent Dinozzo and I thought that I could be of assistance." Jim tried to justify his actions.

"Oh." Tony said lamely trying to ease his anger. The rest of the team stared at both Tony and Jim sensing the tension between the two. They slowly began a calm conversation.

"Well then I have been wondering…"

"Yes?" Jim urged.

Ziva shot a look at Tony that meant, _"You better not mess this up."_

"Why were Ziva and I only having pain every couple minutes when we were buried in the massive debris from my apartment building?"

"You both had internal bleeding and your bodies were going into shock due to the extreme pain your brain was telling your body to numb itself in a sense if that makes sense." Jim watched as Tony became irritable at Jim's intelligence.

"Alright then, why is it that I can still walk?"

"Excuse me?"

"When I was buried in I couldn't feel my legs and I had the worst back pain. You never told me how I could feel my legs again." Jim was confused and Tony felt better at silencing the, _"Mr. I Know It All."_

"Wait you're saying that you had back pain and your leg's were numb."

"Yeah."

"Hmm. That's very strange because I never saw anything wrong with your legs when you got here or your back."

"That's not possible I remember when I was buried with Tony he said he had really bad back pain." Ziva stepped in curious about their conversation.

"Well, Agent Dinozzo I don't know what to tell you but I didn't find anything in your tests that would give you those symptoms. My only guess is someone up there must really like you." Jim pointed toward the ceiling.

The whole team had one thought, but only Gibbs stiffened to the memory. _Kelly._ Tony's eyes closed and his head fell at Jim's last words. Jim noticed the drastic change and asked if he was feeling alright.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Tony said as he slowly walked out the door passing Gibbs ridged body.

**There you have it! Hope you enjoyed it! I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! Thanks to all my reviewers! **

**Agent T **


	26. Chapter 26

**Hello everyone. I am having a lot of writers block so if you have any ideas you want to share I would really be grateful. I have a couple ideas but they don't seem too awesome. I want to thank all my reviewers I really love your comments. Enjoy! **

**Agent T**

Tony walked out of the hospital room ignoring Gibbs strained calls.

"Hey. Hey!" Gibbs called as Tony entered the elevator.

Gibbs looked back into McGee's hospital room and noticed Ziva face. She had an expression of guilt as she watched Tony leave and Gibbs understood the reason for her expression. As Gibbs watched Tony leave he realized he needed to clarify something's about Kelly. Tony had seen and talked to Kelly and not once did Gibbs ask any questions on the subject. He felt now was the time to do so. Gibbs jumped into the elevator before the doors closed, and stood silently next to Tony who focused on the elevator floor. Gibbs noticed Tony had already pressed the button marked ground floor, and waited until they arrived at their destination to speak.

"Dinozzo." Tony continued to walk toward the exit of the hospital.  
Gibbs wanted to speak with him in a more secluded area so he followed Tony until they reached the front yard of the hospital.

"Dinozzo!" Gibbs raised his voice and Tony didn't have the courage to disobey him.

He turned around and Gibbs looked him in the eye. There was a bench next to a trash can in the front yard of the hospital. The yard was such a beautiful sight to Gibbs. This yard reminded him of a park he used to take Kelly to when he was on leave. Gibbs sat on the bench as he began to explain to Dinozzo the last memory he had of Kelly and him in the park.

"Ya know when Kelly was sad or not herself I always took her to a park that was down the street from our house. She loved that park." Tony watched as Gibbs began to speak. Then he himself sat down next to Gibbs.

"We'd sit on the swing set and swing back and forth for hours and hours, not saying one word to each other." Gibbs smiled.

"She was always stubborn. Ziva reminds me of her. They never break easily, but all they need is time. I remember I took Kelly to the park about two days before I was scheduled to deploy. She had been angry and acting up for a whole week. It was driving her mother crazy because she wouldn't eat, sleep, or get up to go to school without a fight. She always did that whenever I had to leave. We were in the park swinging back and forth and I looked at her and I remember seeing her eyes. They were so big and bright, but they were sad. I had made such a beautiful creature feel sad. I hated myself a little for that. That was the first time the park didn't work. She didn't talk to me. She didn't tell me how she felt, and that scared me because it always worked. She'd always give in and say she was sorry for the way she acted and for me to stay, but that last time she just got up from her swing and walked away." Gibbs huffed.

"I never realized how much it hurt her for me to leave. I just knew it hurt me a lot to leave her. When my final two days past, and I was ready to leave. My truck was out front and my bags were in the back she came flying out of the house with tears streaming down her face. She was begging me not to leave, and I told her I had to leave. I have to leave. God if only would have listened to her. If only I would have said okay. Instead I said no hugged her, kissed her goodbye, and walked away." Gibbs looked at his hands, and then looked at the flower beds around the trees that were in the yard.

"Kelly and her friend made a time capsule. It was a lunchbox. They put their favorite things in there, and buried it away only to have me find it years later. I dug it up in my front lawn and took it down into the basement. I stared at it for a while not knowing whether I should open it or not. I decided not to. I set it down. Then I went to work. That was the day when Kelly's best friend paid us a visit claiming her boyfriend was getting out of hand." Tony eyebrows went up at the memory. He had pulled Gibbs and the girl out of the car, which Gibbs drove into the water to avoid being shot at by the men who were going to kill the girl. Tony remembered that day clearly.

"After that day I went home, went into my basement and saw the lunchbox. I clutched it to my chest and fell to the floor out of breath and hurt. I opened it, and she was there. In the pictures, the toys, the memories. She came to life again. I soon realized that keeping the lunchbox would keep her alive, and she was _gone_." Gibbs voice broke on the last word, but he quickly regained his control.

Tony was growing uncomfortable. He had never seen Gibbs so open before. Tony just sat there and continued to listen.

"So I buried it in the front lawn again. I buried the lunchbox like I buried her and my wife. To rest in peace. That's why I was so confused when you told me that she said to keep the lunchbox. Why would she want that?" Tony was still trying to process the fact that Gibbs had spoken more then one sentence in less than five minutes, and the contents of that long speech. Tony tried to help Gibbs understand.

"Maybe she wants you to keep a part of her. Maybe she wants you to keep a piece of her heart so you will never be apart whether it's because you're deployed or because of death. Maybe she wants you to know she understands why you left and she wants you to go, but with a part of her to carry and to keep forever." Tony was completing the mission Kelly gave him when he died and came back to life, which was to take care of her father.

Gibbs was once again looking at his palms then raised his head to look at Tony. His eyes were a deeper blue then an icy blue. Tony realized Gibbs was mending his heart together, and he had reached out to Tony not any one else. Gibbs wrapped his arms around Tony and whispered in his ear the most beautiful words Tony had ever heard.

"Maybe that part of her is you."

**Alright so I tried to make this a least fluffy as I possibly could. To clarify, Gibbs did NOT cry his voice simply cracked. It's to far out there for me to think Gibbs could cry. I hope I didn't make it to girly, but I wanted to make it father and son type of talk. I hope it came out some what good. I tried and that's what matters, I guess. Hope you liked it!**

**Agent T **


	27. Chapter 27

**Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't written in a while, but I have been very busy lately. Here's another chapter! I do have to WARN you (WARNING) there are a couple bad words in this chapter, but not very bad, so if you are offended by them I completely apologize. It was not my intention to offend anyone. Hope you enjoy! Thanks to my reviewers, you give me the strength to keep writing.**

**Agent T **

Tony and Gibbs made their way back through the hospital doors. When they arrive at McGee's room Ziva and Jim were gone. Tony searched the room frantically for Ziva or Jim, but they were no where in sight.

"Where's Ziva?" Tony asked McGee who was wearing a smile symbolizing his joy for their return.

"She left with Jim. They wanted to get some lunch in the cafeteria before he took her on their surprise date." McGee answered Tony's question, which appeared to leave Tony uncomfortable and angry.

Tony was looking forward to seeing her in the room at least, but he couldn't even have that pleasure. He was growing tired as the day continued and at midnight he told McGee he was going to head home and get some rest. McGee understood and thanked Tony for coming and checking up on him. Tony stopped in his tracks before walking out the door and turned to McGee and apologized to him.

"Hey Probie, I'm sorry I just think… Well I'm sorry." Tony felt such terrible guilt.

Even though Tony wasn't at fault for McGee's injury he felt if he had spoke sooner he could have saved his partner the visit to the hospital. McGee told him it wasn't his fault, but to give Tony some piece of mind he forgave him and wished him a goodnight.

Tony turned toward Abby, who refused to leave McGee's side, and asked her a quick question before he left.

"Abby do you want the car for yourself and I could call a cab?" Abby declined the sweet offer but told Tony she would spend the night with McGee and make sure he didn't need anything.

Tony smiled and accepted her words, then picked up the keys and left the hospital. Tony sluggishly made his way toward the car in the hospital garage when he realized he still needed to check into a hotel because his place had burned down. Tony became furious again, but for the first time it was toward Lillian or whatever her real name was. He wanted to go home and drown his sorrows in the contents of his fridge, but instead he had to look forward to a crapping hotel that reeked of cigarettes. He opened the car door disgruntled by the news and stepped in. When he put the key in the ignition he was startled by the loud ring of his cell phone. He hoped it wasn't Gibbs telling him he found something and needed his help. He looked at the caller I.D. to be surprised by the sight of Ziva's name. Tony thought she'd still be on her date with numb nuts, and wondered why she'd call him.

"Dinozzo." He answered.

He was unpleasantly greeted by the frantic voice of a very worried Ziva.

"Tony, please can you help me, please!" Tony became very nervous to the sound of Ziva asking for help.

He always believed Ziva was the toughest ninja killer that ever walked the planet and would never need his help for anything.

He didn't wait another second to answer, "What do you need? Are you alright? Are you hurt? Where's Jim? Are you with him? Did he hurt you?"

She seemed confused and disoriented by all the questions," I don't know. I don't know. Can you just pick me up? Please!"

"Yeah sure where are you?" Tony answered softly but very concerned for her well being.

"I don't know I just see trees and a wooden bridge and it looks like its old. I'm standing on it right now, and there are just so many trees. Tony help me please… I just don't know where I am I think it's a park or something. Tony-"Tony cut her off when he finally understood all the details.

"You said there's a wooden bridge?"

"Yes." Ziva answered confidently, but with a little slur in her voice.

"I think you're at Rock Creek Park. Which trail are you on? How far away from the entrance are you?"

"I don't know Tony. I just woke up and I was on a wooden bridge and my cell phones dieing hurry." Tony had no chance of finding her in the dark with the little details that she was giving him, and then he got a brilliant thought.

"Alright Ziva I need you to hang up and I'm going to call someone in Ciberville at NCIS to track your cell so don't shut it off alright. Ziva! Ziva! Can you hear me? Damn it!" The phone call was cut.  
Tony didn't waste any time. He searched through his phone address book for Cynthia a girl he dated who worked downstairs with the tech "stuff" as he called it.

"Hey Cynthia I need a favor."

"Hell no Dinozzo you and I are through."

"No Cynthia it's about Ziva you need to trace her cell there's no time. Please hurry I'll buy you dinner or something to pay you back, but please hurry she's in trouble!"

"Alright… I'm putting her cell number in now…"There was a pause.

"Come on Cynthia, what do you got?"

"Give it a minute."

"I don't have a minute."

"Got it she's…"

"What?" Tony waited anxiously.

"I lost it."

"No! Where is she?"  
"I don't know I lost the signal. All it shows me is she's in Washington D.C. Don't worry Tony she probably just shut off her phone."

"Or it died. I got to go." Tony hung up the phone and put the car in reverse.

The tires squealed as he fled down the levels of the parking garage. In the next five minutes he was already half way to Rock Creek. He arrived at the park wondering how he was going to have the strength and energy to search for her. Tony took out his flashed light and turned it on. Tony remembered a case they had done a while back when he and McGee were searching for a dead body with a group of FBI agents. Of course Tony and McGee found the body first, but he was trying to remember which trail had the wooden bridge as he saw three signs for three different trail entrances. He was so worried and nervous that he guessed and hoped it was right. After finding the trail he turned off the flash light and began to run with the light from the moon. He ran for about fifteen minutes until he came to sign that read Aspen Hill. He knew he was right because he remember when McGee and he started talking about Aspen and Tony mentioned Dumb and Dumber. Tony new that further up the trail past "Matterhorn" there was a foot past that was a wooden bridge. Although drops of sweat were falling down his forehead he pickup a good pace of running. After another five miles his legs gave out and he fell, which caused him to scratch his head. It took a couple tries to pick himself up but he managed to do so. He decided it would be better for him to walk because when or if he found Ziva he would need strength for her as well. After a while he started to become very exhausted an wondered whether or not he was going to be able to make it when he saw in the distance, thanks to the aid of the moon, a wooden bridge. He couldn't help running towards it in excitement that he was so close.

"Ziva! Ziva!" He yelled and reached for his flashlight and started shining it towards the bridge.

Tony made it to the center of the bridge and looked around in panic as he couldn't find Ziva. Then he shined his flash light in the right direction spotting Ziva's foot. She had sat down by one of the posts that held the handle of the bridge. He ran over to her and shook her. Ziva awoke with a piercing scream of fright.

"Ziva! Ziva! Shhh! It's okay its just me!"  
"Tony?"

"Yeah its me. Don't worry you're safe now." Tony looked over her body and noticed she had scratches and bruises and her cast had been ripped on the top.

"Ziva, who did this to you?" He asked as he sat down next to her and let her rest her head on his chest.

"Jim." She whispered. "It was Jim." Ziva fell unconscious in Tony's arms leaving them stranded in the middle of Rock Creek Park.

**I hope you like it! I just wanted to let you guys know that I don't live in Washington D.C. and I have never been to Rock Creek Park so I don't know if I'm right about the miles, and the names. I did do some research to find a park but I had to make up some details. Anyway, thanks to my reviews. I'm sorry for some of the language, as well as any mistakes toward Rock Creek Park. Hope you liked it and I'll try to keep writing more and more often. Thanks! **

**Agent T**


	28. Chapter 28

**Hey everyone, I'm here with another chapter. I didn't think chapter 27 was that great; and by great I mean with word choice. On this chapter I really want to focus on my word choice because I feel I'm not improving but actually the very opposite. Anyway, I hope you like this story so far. I'm probably not going to post anything tomorrow, but than again you never know. Hope you like this chapter and thank you for all your wonderful reviews they are very nice. **

**Agent T **

Tony's body was stiff from spending a whole night on a wooden bridge with Ziva on top of him and from the twenty mile trail he had ran the night before to find her. He had tried all night to stay in one position so he wouldn't bother her, but this was a silly act because Tony believed Ziva couldn't sleep because every time he tried to "pick" on her when she was "sleeping" in the office she always knew. Tony looked at his watch it was five in the morning and the sun was just starting to rise. Ziva shifted her head to the left and let it rest on Tony's heart. Tony, who was so overtired from his efforts, didn't fall asleep throughout the whole night. He sat there holding Ziva close to his chest so she wouldn't get cold, and thinking of random things he hadn't had the time to think about before. He was always working (working for Tony was creating an everlasting line of jokes and movie references) or on a date that would later become a one night stand. Tony hadn't really taken the time to think of all the things that had happened to him in the last year or two years. He had gotten shot, seen his partner get shot in the arm, seen his other partner almost die because she had gotten shot and he had no way of calling for help, and he had a building in gulp his whole body in debris as well as his partner. Tony thought of everything and really took in what had happened and was so shocked by what he had gone through that he couldn't believe that Ziva and he were sitting on a bridge, in the middle of a trail in a park, with cuts and bruises on her and a huge scratch on his forehead from the previous nights' fall. He made an unintentional huff, which caused Ziva to wake._ Damn it._ Tony thought to himself. _I can never do anything right. Here I am in the middle of nowhere, what else is new, holding the one and only reason for my being and I can't even give her something comfortable to sleep upon. And on top of everything I still have no idea how I'm going to drag us back to the car. Send out a bolo to catch numb nuts or that Jim guy. Find something that gives us a lead on Lillian and who she was working for, and question them to find out why they would want to kill me. Find out who the real bad guy was in the case and then put them in jail. With everything I have to do that I probably won't be able to do right, I can't even let Ziva have a nice comfortable night where she isn't at risk of dieing or falling into a coma or something completely terrible that is equal to a coma. Ziva couldn't even find the right guy to go out on a date with because he was either a serial killer, a woman beater, or a jackass that worked for her dad. Her dad that doesn't even care about her the way I do or maybe he does I just don't know about it, but still he left her in a desert to die a torturous death. That can't be love. Can it? Maybe tough love. Really tough love. Ziva has been through so much and all I have to do is be quiet and soft for her to sleep on me and I can't even do that. I'm useless. She would never think of being with me. No not Tony Dinozzo! No anyone but Tony. Why? Well let's see he would never beat her, he hates her father, he would always protect her, and he risked his life to save her. _Tony sat holding Ziva as he regained possession of a distant memory. He was strapped to a wooden chair taking hit after hit after hit by Salem. He though the memory away as fast as he thought of it. Tony didn't want to think negatively anymore.

"Good morning." He whispered so he would frighten her.

"Tony? What…Where…"

"Shh…Don't worry about anything thing right now."

"But Tony I don't remember anything. I can't remember how I got here. Tony!" Ziva talked softly at first then screamed Tony's name which startled him.

"What? What's wrong? Does something hurt? Are you alrig-"Ziva cut him off.

"No. No. It's not that. Where's Jim?" Ziva became nervous when she realized he was nowhere in sight.

"Tony what happened last night."

"Alright Ziva I am really confused. What do you mean you don't remember anything? How far do you remember?"

"I just remember bits and pieces. Like I can remember calling you before my phone died, and being lost and confused. Everything was so different last night. The trees were moving in on me like they were going to eat me or something."

"Okay Zee vah trees don't eat people."

"I know that's why I was so scared and confused. I didn't understand what was happening."

"I think someone drugged you. I think Jim drugged you and probably dumped you out here." Ziva turned around at the sound of Jim's name at looked at Tony with cold hard eyes.

"Don't bring Jim into this just because you're jealous."

"Ziva, what are you talking about? Last night when I asked you who did this to you your answer was Jim. Jim did this to me." Tony restated Ziva's words, which left her shocked and even more confused.

"I said that."

"Yeah. I'm not jealous. Why would you think I'm jealous?" Tony asked her hoping she wouldn't be able to see through his mask.

Ziva didn't answer his question she just looked around and observed her surroundings. Then she turned her attention toward Tony.  
"You head it's scratched. What happened?"

"I tripped on my way here. I was running pretty fast and…well… I was just so tried I fell."

"You were scared."

"Well… yeah… you called me at midnight and you sounded pretty shaken up. I didn't want you to get hurt and look where we are." Ziva smiled a broken smile.  
"I should have listened to you."

"Listen to me about what?" Tony asked confused.

"Surprise first dates."

Tony just looked at her with sadden eyes. He didn't want her to feel bad or guilty. Tony just wanted Ziva to feel safe and happy and everything was turning out to be the exact opposite.

"Hey Ziva, you couldn't have known."

"I should have known. I thought Jim was something special and nothing compared to Michael. I thought he was a nice man who would make me happy, and look at where I am. Look at what he has done to me." Ziva pointed at her ripped cast and looked over her scratches and bruises that traced up and down her arms and legs.

"I got all dresses up for him and he…" Tony hadn't noticed until she mentioned her clothing.

Ziva was wearing a red dress the stopped mid thigh. It had been torn at the bottom a bit and was cover with mud in some places.

"I think you look beautiful." Tony said without thinking about the consequences.

He didn't want to say anything but he always thought she look beautiful. Even in Somalia with dirt and sweat all over her face. Tony always thought Ziva looked beautiful no matter what she wore. Ziva smiled at his remark, but the smile soon turned to tears that caused her to turn away from Tony impenetrable stare. She didn't want him to see her cry for something she believed to be so ridiculous yet it hurt her deeper then she thought. Tony grabbed her by the chin, which forced her to look into his eyes.

"Ziva…stop loving everyone that doesn't love you." Ziva was shocked by what Tony had told her.

She never thought of herself loving men that didn't love her. Ziva remained silent until Tony spoke again.

"Ziva, love the ones' who love you." Tony looked into her chocolate brown eyes, and Ziva lost herself in his radiant emerald eyes.

"Tony…"

"Yeah."

"Who loves me?"

**Well, there you have it. I hope you liked it. I feel like I'm a little rusty on my writing, but I'm sure that once I get into my old habits of writing constantly I'll get back on track. Anyway, thanks for the reviews. **

**Agent T **


	29. Chapter 29

**Okay so it's been too long since I have written a chapter and I've wanted to put up some chapters so here I am with another chapter. I hope you enjoy this one. For some reason the last chapter I wrote was REALLY fluffy and I don't want this chapter to be as fluffy because it doesn't feel right for the story or the characters. Anyway, I hope you enjoy and thanks to my followers. **

**Agent T **

Tony huffed at Ziva's question.  
"What do you mean, 'Who loves you?'" Tony restated her question.

"Team Gibbs loves you. Think about it. You have Gibbs, Abby, Ducky, if you're desperate McGee, and even Palmer. You have a lot of people that love you."

"Does this include you?" Ziva asked.

"FOUND THEM. THEY'RE OVER HERE!" A strange voice shouted from about twenty feet away.

Both Tony and Ziva turned to look in the direction of a woman's voice. The sound came from the end of the bridge. Before long they could see the woman's figure. She was petite and comely.

"Hey, we have been looking for you two since last night. You got really far." The woman had on a black FBI jacket with jeans.

"I'm Federal Agent Marabel Walker. We put together a search team last night when we heard there were two NCIS agents missing. We have FBI, NCIS, and the local police out here. It's been about twelve hours looking and we finally found you. Thank god for that. We are all tired as hell. What's the damage on you two?"

Tony and Ziva didn't speak. They were trying to process what she said. Marabel would talk really fast and in short bursts and it was difficult to follow what she said.

Tony spoke first, "We have a couple scraps and a torn cast."

"Alrightly then I'll just let a medic know. I'll be right back." The woman walked away.

Ziva sat up and moved away from Tony so know one would think anything wrong. About thirty seconds of silence pasted before they could here the woman again, and this time she was with someone. They saw the Marabel's figure again and then Gibbs.

"BOSS!" Tony shouted in excitement.

"How ya doin' Dinozzo?" Gibbs asked in his usual soft, manly voice.

McGee and a few FBI agents followed Gibbs and Marabel. They had two backboards in hand. McGee helped Tony onto one and the FBI agents helped Ziva onto the other one, keeping in mind her sensitive leg. As the team made there way through the trail Tony saw McGee's arm in a sling and remembered that McGee had been shot.

"Probie! Why are you here, what happened, you were in the hospital? "

"Yeah, well it's a long story."

"Cough it up Probie. What happened?" Tony became inpatient.  
"Well, Cynthia gave me a call after you hung up on her. She had no idea I was in the hospital with a gun shot injury and couldn't do anything for you. After I gave her the short version of the story she regretted calling me, and at that time I didn't know why she called. I asked her why she called me and she told me that she had just talked to you. She wanted to know what was going on and if everything was alright. She went on and on about tracing Ziva's cell and you telling her that Ziva was in trouble. That's when I decided to call you and see what was going on." McGee stumbled on a rock and caught himself before he fell.

"Are you okay?" Tony asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Anyway, um, I called you and you wouldn't pick up. After the fifteenth call I called Gibbs and told him the situation. He told me to stay in hospital and not worry about it, but I knew something was wrong and that Gibbs didn't have your location. I ripped off my IV and headed for NCIS headquarters. It was harder than I thought getting out of the hospital, but I managed to make in the bullpen in under an hour. Gibbs was really angry, but I didn't pay much attention to him although it was really hard not paying attention to him. I logged on and started searching. I traced your cell and found it was somewhere in Rock Creek Park the signal from your cell wasn't strong enough to tell me exactly where to look but it did give me a radius. I figured you went after Ziva. I told Gibbs where to look and we drove out here. We searched the park for about two hours, just the two of us before we decided to call on a search team. It took a while, but we found you. Thankfully, we found you sooner than later. It was getting to be over twelve hours and people were talking. Saying we weren't going to find you guys alive. I'm glad they were wrong."

"Yeah me too." Tony answered.

"So, are you going to head back to the hospital when we get back? You aren't fully healed yet."

"I don't know. Maybe I should."

"I think you should." Tony told McGee hoping he would go back so he would risk anything happening.

It took the team about forty five minutes to make it back to the parking lot. They loaded Ziva onto an ambulance that was there on stand by. Tony said he was fine and didn't need to go to the hospital, but he would ride in the back with Ziva. Gibbs allowed it, and McGee unbuckled the straps for Tony to get out. Tony hopped in the back of the ambulance with Ziva who had fallen asleep. She woke up when one of the paramedics placed an IV in her arm. She hissed in pain.

"Sorry." The paramedic apologized.

Tony gave him a look, but he didn't notice. Gibbs closed the doors, and smacked his had against the window to signal the driver it was all clear for take off. The ambulance drove off. It wasn't too long before they made it to the hospital. Tony was placed in separate room than Ziva so one of the nurses could clean his cut. He was anxious to hear news about Ziva. An elderly nursed cleaned him up and took him into another room with a chair and many machines. There was a gap where a bed was supposed to be. After five minutes the door opened and another nurse wheeled Ziva in on a bed. He placed her in the gap and left without a word closing the door behind him.

"Hey, what's the news?"

"They recast my leg, and cleaned my scratches. I got some ice for the bruises on my ribs too. I saw Dr. Andrea Bradley, and she was very sweet. She said I should be good for discharge tomorrow. She wants to keep me over night for observation because of the drugs." Ziva finished her explanation and expected Tony to say something, but he stood staring at her in silence.

Tony was furious. He couldn't believe that he had allowed her to go out with such an evil man. _Why? How could this have happened? _Tony thought to himself. _I should have known. I should have stopped it before it got this far. I had a feeling something was wrong and I was right, but I didn't listen to myself. How could I have let this happen?_

"Tony?" Ziva asked confused by his silence.

"Yeah." Tony's head jerked around as he was knocked out of his thoughts.

"What are you thinking about?" Ziva asked curiously.

Tony hesitated, "Well… it's nothing."

Ziva didn't push him any further, and she changed the subject.

"Are you going back to the office today?"

"Yeah, I was going to stop by for a couple hours and go home early. Why?"

"You need to put out a bolo out on Jim, if that's his real name?"

"I will. Do you need anything else? Do you have something at the office that you need?"

"No, thank you."

"Yep, you sure you are alright."

"Yes thank you."

"Okay, um, well I'm going to start heading over there now so if you need anything McGoo will probably be two doors down. Hope you feel better." Tony made his way to the door.

Before he turned the knob Ziva spoke," Do you think it was _all_ a lie?" She emphasized the word all.

Tony turned around to face her. He took a couple steps forward until he was close enough to feel the heat of her hand.

"I think, he doesn't deserve you and you should let him go." Tony said this in a whisper.

Ziva was on the verge of breaking the thin layer of strength she had left. Tony could see she needed some kind of comfort so he began to tell her a short story.

"A buddy of mine in college once told me this quote when I lost one of my best friends in a car accident, he said, 'A sad thing in life is that sometimes you meet someone who means a lot to you only to find out in the end that it was never bound to be and you just have to let go.' At first I didn't understand why he would ever say that to me or how he could tell me to let go of this person that I cared about. Now I realize he wasn't telling me to let go exactly, but rather accept that there are things that are just not meant to be. Why? Well, I don't know. Maybe because there's something out there that's better for you and you have yet to discover it. It doesn't mean it's the end of the world." Tony finished his little speech and watched Ziva's reaction.

"You never answered my question." She spoke after a few minutes.

"What question?" Tony looked at her confused and stunned by the sudden topic change.

"Does this include you, remember? Before they found us, you never answered me."

Ziva stared at Tony who didn't answer.

"You know when we were talking about-"Tony cut her off.

"I remember." Tony said in a short tone.

"Then, what is you answer?"

"You can count on me Ziva. I'm your partner. All partners love each other. I love Gibbs, McGee and you. We're a team."

"Yes we are." Ziva said disappointed.

"What's the matter?" Tony asked oblivious to Ziva's real question.

"Nothing, I'm just tired." Ziva lied and smiled at Tony.

"Well, I'm going to go now and I'll stop by the nurses' station to see if McGee has checked in yet, and if he has I'll tell the nurse to let you know what room he's in so you can have somebody to talk to. I'll see you later."

"I will be right here." Ziva smiled at Tony and Tony smiled at the memory those words brought.

He turned the door knob and walked away leaving Ziva and her heart to ache in silence.

**Well here is another chapter. I hope you liked it. Thanks to all my reviewers. I really appreciate it. I should be writing a bit more depending on my time, but I tried and put up as many chapters sooner than later. Thanks again. **

**Agent T **


	30. Chapter 30

**Yay! This is my 30****th**** chapter and I got 100 reviews! Thanks to everyone who has given me feedback. It's really helpful and I appreciate it very much. Anyway, I'm getting tired of so many hospital scenes in my story so I'm going to try and keep them out of the hospital for a while. Thanks again. Hope you enjoy.**

**Agent T**

Ziva and McGee were discharged from the hospital on the same day. They both decided to go back to the office where they found empty desks. Half and hour past by and Abby came up to the bullpen. McGee was the first to speak.

"Hey Abby where is everybody?"

"McGee! You're back! And you're okay!" Abby threw her arms around McGee and trapped him in a breathtaking hug.

"Ow! Ow! Abby, careful. Ow!" McGee cried out in pain.

"Oh sorry! I'm just so happy you're back and… Ziva!" Abby directed her attention to Ziva who was sitting at her desk observing their conversation.

"Ziva, you're back! How are you? How's you leg?" Abby bent over and gave Ziva a hug as well.

"I'm fine Abby. Thank you." Ziva smiled.

"Abby, so where is everybody?" McGee asked his question again.

"Oh right, um, well Tony's in observation and I think Gibbs is in interrogation. We caught Jim. He was heading toward Florida. Gibbs hasn't gotten anything out of him yet, so they're still working on him. They've actually been in there for a while now." Ziva's head shot a glance at McGee when she heard Jim's name.

"Ziva…"Abby turned to look at Ziva again and began to explain to her who Jim was.

"I hate to have to tell you think, but Jim isn't really Jim."

"What do you mean?" Ziva looked at Abby confused and scared to find out who Jim really was.

McGee watched in silent amazement from his desk.

"Jim is a doctor… and part of the secret service."

"He's CIA!" McGee shouted across the bullpen.

"No not on our side." Abby rectified McGee.

"Then whose side is he on?" Ziva asked impatiently.

"He's Irish."

"Irish?" Ziva restated in a surprised tone.

"Irish, really?" McGee said just as astonished as Ziva.

"Yep." Abby assured both their questions.

"Huh. I would have never thought Irish." McGee said still trying to grasp the idea Jim was Irish secret service.

"Yeah Probie well he is." Tony said as he strode across the bullpen to his desk.

Ziva followed him as he moved as did McGee and Abby.

"Tony what happened?" Ziva asked curious to what Jim's alibi was.

"We got nothing. He's not letting loose any beans." Tony informed everyone.

"He has beans?" Ziva questioned puzzled by the idiom.

"No Ziva…it's an expression." McGee clarified.

"Oh."

"Gibbs said he wanted to let him sit for a while longer and then he's going to try again."

Tony sat in his comfortable chair and let out a sigh. He looked very tired and miserable.

"Tony, how long have you been here?" Ziva asked when she noticed how exhausted he looked.

"Since I left you at the hospital. Gibbs and I were the only ones here so we had to do twice the work. I could really go for a pizza or a cup of coffee."

"So could I Dinozzo." Gibbs walked in the bullpen holding a file.

Tony straightened up in his chair at the sound of Gibbs voice. Abby smiled at him, as did Ziva. McGee simply watched him.

"McGee, help Abby reconstruct Jim's cell phone." McGee didn't understand what cell phone he was talking about.

"Um, boss what cell phone is that exactly?"

"Jim smashed his cell phone when Dinozzo and I caught him. He threw it up against a wall when Dinozzo tackled him and it shattered. Abby thinks there could be something useful on it. It might give us a lead on Lillian's whereabouts."

"Got it. Let's go Abby." McGee placed his hand on Abby's shoulder and guided her downstairs.

Tony and Ziva watch Gibbs intently waiting for orders. Gibbs set the file he was holding down on his desk.

"Ziva, I got a list of names here that need background checks. Dinozzo-"

"Yes boss."

"Go home, get some rest."

"You sure, I mean I can stay-"Gibbs cut him off.

"Go home Dinozzo." Tony obeyed and left without another words.

Although he didn't say anything he did shoot one last glance toward Ziva who watched as he left. Gibbs left the bullpen and made his way to Vance's office leaving Ziva alone to work. She waited until Gibbs was in the directors office then decided to pay Jim a little visit.

**Alright so this is a pretty short chapter so I'm probably going to add another one later tonight. Anyway, hope you like it. Thanks to my reviewers. **

**Agent T **


	31. Chapter 31

**Okay so the last chapter was kind of stupid in my opinion because nothing really happened, so this chapter is probably going to have a lot of action in it. Thanks to all my reviewers, again. Hope you enjoy.**

**Agent T **

Ziva burst through the interrogation room and entered with confidence pouring out of her. She wore a mask of anger, and a stare she hoped would terrify her prey. Ziva felt a bit of satisfaction when Jim jumped to the sound of the door bursting open.

"Oh, it's just you." Jim stated in an Irish accent.

"What do you mean by that?" Ziva asked in a very cold tone.

"Well…nothing, I guess." Jim's accent became thicker as he spoke.

"Ha." Ziva laughed sarcastically.

"You know Jim…you are a pathetic excuse for a man. I am amazed that you would go through so much trouble to try to make me interested in you only to dump me in the woods full of drugs." Ziva placed her hands on her hips.

"Who said I just dumped you out there?" Jim shot her a wide evil smirk.

Ziva became nervous because she knew he knew everything. She didn't have any memory of that night when she was lost in the park, except for calling Tony.

"You know Ziva you are actually quite attractive." Jim laughed as he watched Ziva become even more uncomfortable.

She became so nervous from the possibilities that she had sweat building up on her forehead. Ziva kept her mask of anger and refused to be weak. She grabbed the chair that was meant for the interrogator and propped it against the doorknob so it would stay shut. She walked over to Jim with fire in her eyes. Ziva was going to find the answers to that night as well as anything else he was hiding. Jim laughed at her. He was a foolish man who thought Ziva was simply a woman with no power. She smacked him hard enough to make his smile drop.

"You bitc-"Ziva cut him off with another smack to the face and this time she hit him harder.

A long string of blood fell from his lips. He lifted his hand to wipe the stringy glop away. Jim stood and Ziva shoved him into the medal chair he had been sitting in since she walked in.

"You can't do this to me…this isn't right…I want to speak with Agent Gibbs." Ziva smiled because she was breaking through his disgusting cocky shell.

She was making him uncomfortable, but she wanted more. Ziva placed her hand behind his neck and shoved him; face first, into the medal table while holding his left arm behind his back.

"Jim, I can do anything I want to you. You see, this isn't an interrogation I am just 'talking to you'. There's no one in observation so it's just me and you." Jim huffed in pain and fear.

"You…You…You can'tttt dooo ttthis to me!" Jim stuttered his words from the ache in his shoulder.

"Jim, please tell…what happened the night we went out?" Ziva kept her strong grasp on Jim.

"I don't remember!" Jim lied.

"I think you are lying." Ziva twisted Jim's arm until she heard him screech and asked again.

"Jim, I am going to give you a second chance. What happened the night we went out?" Ziva held Jim's twisted left arm as tightly as she could.

Jim still said nothing.

"You know Jim… I'm kind of hoping you won't tell me what it is that I need to here so I can keep going with this torture." Ziva pulled on Jim's arms an inch higher and he began to cry.

"Please…Please…Stop…I don't know what happened!"

"I don't believe you!" Ziva challenged him.

She kicked him in the back of his calf and he let out a very strong yelp. She lifted his head by the back of his neck and slammed him against the medal table against. The forced caused Jim's nose to break. The pain hit a soft spot in Jim's brain because after that he started to talk.

"Alright! Alright! Alright!" Jim yelled quickly.

"I'll tell you everything." Ziva didn't let go.

"We left the hospital and started to drive. You didn't know where because I didn't tell you. I told you it was a surprise. When we were in the car I waited until you looked out the window to stab you in the arm with a needle that had multiple hallucinogens. You fell unconscious many times throughout the drive." Ziva stopped him.

"Where were you taking me?"

"Rock Creek Park." Jim answered with short breathes.

"Then what?" Ziva pushed him.

"I took you on this trail. I dragged you out there, and I dropped you a lot. It made your dress really dirty. Well, I made it as far as an old wooden bridge before I decided to stop. You were still unconscious and the moon did such a great job with you skin that I could help but feel your silky smooth-"Ziva picked his head up again and slammed it against the table, which caused Jim to bawl in pain.

"How far did you go?" Ziva asked worried of what the answer might be.

"I kissed you then left. I am not that kind of man."

"No you are not; you are not a man at all." Ziva released him and he untwisted his arm.

Ziva had one last question before she left, "Do you know who Lillian Silverman is?"

"Yes, I worked with her for two years." Jim answered breathlessly.

"Do you know where I can find her?" Ziva watched him as he attempted to sooth his pain.

"Last I heard she was headed for some hotel in search of some man. Italian, I think? She didn't give me any names. That's all I know!" Ziva knew immediately who he was talking about and before Jim could finish Ziva had moved the chair and left the room.

As she walked toward the observation room she was stunned by Gibbs who walked out just as she pasted by the door.

"Gibbs, I-"Ziva tried to explain herself but Gibbs cut her off.

"You did what you had to do."

"How did you know? I thought you were with the director."

"I had a feeling." Gibbs stated with a small smile.

"Let's go find Dinozzo." He said and led the way to the bullpen.

**So, here's another chapter. I loaded this one with action. I wanted it to be intense and I hope I have reached up to your expectations. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it and thanks to all my reviewers!**

**Agent T **


	32. Chapter 32

Dinozzo took longer than usual to make his way to the parking lot. He made a quick detour at the vending machines and enjoyed a delicious candy bar. Tony was about to unlock his car door when his cell phone rang. He set down his coat and reached for his phone. The caller ID read Ziva.

"Hey Ziva."

"Tony, do not get into your car. Do not move I'm almost outside." Ziva instructed a now very worried Tony.

"What's the matter? What going on?"

"I spoke with Jim. He said he had a conversation with Lillian Silverman about her next victim. She described him as an Italian man. I thought of you." Tony listened carefully to all the information given to him.

He took his keys out of the door lock and took a few steps back as he picked up his coat.

"Did she do something to my car, is that why you told me to not get in?"

"Honestly, I don't know but I didn't want to take the risk." Tony heard a bing from the elevator that echoed the entire parking garage.

Ziva stepped out of the elevator followed by Gibbs.

"Boss! Hey, didn't know you were coming down too."  
"Yea, Dinozzo, well here I am." Gibbs gave Tony a stern look.

"Ziva, give Tony a ride to your place I want him to stay with you tonight. I don't want him alone for any reason. I'm gonna have Abby take a look at your car and see what she can find. If Lillian didn't rig it she probably put a bug somewhere to keep track of you, which means she probably-"Ziva finished his sentence.

"Placed a bug in Tony's apartment as well." Ziva turned her attention toward Tony who had a pained expression on his face.

He didn't even what to think of spending the night with Ziva.  
"Boss, C'mon I mean I could just rent a room at a hotel. Ziva probably has plans."

"Actually, Tony I have nothing better to do." Ziva smiled and shoot him a glance and he winced.

"Goodnight Dinozzo." Gibbs turned to leave.

When he stepped into the elevator he let out a huge smile.

_Later that night at Ziva's Apartment_

"Ziva, geez do you live under a rock? You only have five movies!" Ziva laughed then explained herself.

"Well, when my apartment burnt down with the whole Rivkin mess I lost all of my movie collection, but it wasn't that much bigger than the one I have now."

"Why?" Tony asked.

"Because I knew if I ever wanted to see a movie I could always ask you." Ziva smiled and walked into the kitchen to grab a glass of water.

"Do you want anything?" She asked Tony who was in the living room still snooping around her things.

"Sure, do you have a soda?"

"Yes, what kind?"  
"What kind do you have?"

"Sunkist, Sprite, and Diet Coke but I think its plane."

"Flat, not plane," Tony corrected Ziva, "and I'll take a Sprite."

Ziva grabbed a cup and poured the liquid until it reached the top. She placed the bottle back in the fridge and made her way to the living room. Ziva found Tony looking through a journal she enjoyed to write in. She believed it helped her organize her thoughts. Ziva set the cup down and ripped the journal out of Tony's hands. Ziva had many private messages in her journal and believed it should not be seen by anyone, but by the time Ziva had pulled the journal from Tony he had already read too much. She placed her little black book on its appropriate spot in the bookshelf and sat down on her sofa. Tony was the first to speak after a few minutes.

"I didn't read that much." Tony sensed Ziva was nervous about what he read. She didn't speak so he continued,"I read when you wrote after we rescued you from Somalia. You wrote that night you arrived home. It was your first entry."

"Yes it was." Ziva hesitated and Tony noticed.

He sat down and picked up his drink. Tony took a huge gulp before he decided to look up at her again.

"That day I arrived back at the office I was very confused and lost. I didn't want to speak with anyone so before I went to the Navy Lodge I stopped by a convenience store and bought that journal. The journal and my writing was a way for me to speak about everything that had happened to me without being judged or letting anyone in. I didn't want anyone to know." Ziva pointed toward the bookshelf.

"I only got a few sentences in. I only saw that you said, _I wish he hadn't have come for me. I wish he wouldn't have seen me that way, but somehow I have a feeling it was meant to be that way. I feel as if he shouldn't have been there, but if he never came I would have been worse off than what I am now. I am grateful for his efforts and above all his love. If it weren't for Tony I would not be alive at all._ I never knew that seeing me meant so much to you." Tony stared at Ziva who couldn't meet his gaze.

Ziva kept her eyes on the floor. She was a little embarrassed by what he had read but she also felt a strong sense of relief.

"It's getting late." Ziva stated staying up.

She walked over to the bookshelf and made a very strange choice. Ziva picked up her little black journal and made her way to Tony who watched her every move. She handed him the journal and his eyes grew wider in shock.

"If you like you could read it." Ziva took a moment and continued.

"It's very difficult for me to let you see this, but I think that you should know. There are many secrets between us and I don't want that anymore. Whether you choose to read it or not I want you to know I was always on your side and Gibbs. You have been a great friend to me Tony and I couldn't have asked for a better person to help through everything that I have been faced with. Thank you for…um…everything, Tony and goodnight." Ziva smiled and waited a moment before she went to her room and locked the door.

She lay in bed wondering what emotions would be aroused from her partner. Ziva took a breath, closed her eyes, and hoped tomorrow morning would be a better day.

**Hope you enjoyed. Thanks for the reviews. Next chapter is supposed to be very exciting and full of juicy details of Ziva's time in Somalia so stay tuned. Thanks again.**

**Agent T **


	33. Chapter 33

**Hey everyone, I planned this to be a very intense so I am warning you ahead of time. Hope you enjoy. Thanks to my reviewers.**

**Agent T**

Tony sat in Ziva comfortable sofa contemplating whether or not he wanted to read Ziva's journal. He finished the sprite Ziva had poured for him and finally decided to look inside. Tony kicked off his shoes and walked over the larger sofa and outstretched his legs while holding the journal in one hand and the empty cup in the other. He set the cup down on the glass coffee table and made himself comfortable. He flipped opened the hardcover of the journal and began to read.

_September_

_I believe I am different now. I know I am. My life begins today. I've been through the good, the bad, and the ugly. _

Tony smiled a little at the fact that Ziva wrote the good the bad and the ugly, but that smile quickly feel as he continued to read.

_Although, I say goodbye to a life which had great purpose, it opens a door to a new life and a new me. Over the years I've been transformed into the worst and the best. Like everyone I have made mistakes, which I regret but have learned multiple lessons from. These lessons will follow me throughout my lifetime. I wish to move on, but I can not simply shrug off what has happened to me. _

_I must say it, to accept it. I can not accept it and I believe that is why I am so hurt. I can not accept the fact that I was not strong enough. That I was not smart enough to know who to trust. I lost that knowledge and through my experience I have regained that knowledge. I will start this story from the beginning, before Somalia, before the trip to Israel, before my fights with Tony, and before Michael. I was happy, living in America and having a job at NCIS. Everything was fine. I was fine. _

_Then Michael paid me a visit claiming to be there because my father sent him to check up on me. That romance started there and it grew. I feel in love, at least I thought I did. Now I realize I feel in love with the thought of love. The thought of love was so strong. It was a nice idea to think that I would have someone to hold me, and care for me in that way. It was a ridiculous thought of which I am now aware of. _

_It's to late now to tell Rivkin no. It's too late to push him away and take back all the lies I told Tony to go see Michael. It's too late to save myself from what has happened to me… After falling in love with Michael and witnessing his death, in a way, I lost trust in his killer. Tony was only trying to protect me and I didn't see that. I didn't want to believe that the thought of love was just an allusion. _

_When Gibbs, Tony, Vance and I arrived in Israel I was overwhelmed with the sight of my old life. The memories took over my mind and spilled thoughts of Michael, "home," and the allusion of a happy life. My father asked me for my loyalty and I could not deny him. He was my father. He is my father. I stayed in Israel claiming that I didn't trust Tony and at that time I didn't. I was still under the influence of the allusion. Gibbs choose Tony. I felt betrayed. I didn't understand why he would choose Tony over me, but now I see why. I allowed myself to believe the allusion and I forgot who I could trust. I realized that when I was on the ship. _

_The Damocles where I encounter a marine who reminded me so much of Gibbs and every time I spoke with him it grew more and more difficult for the allusion to cloud my judgment and I slowly started to realize the reason behind Gibbs choice. By the time I changed my mind I was already at Salem's camp and I could not turn back. _

_The mission was already set and I planned to attack him that night and I did. I was so close. I could touch victory with my fingertips and then I lost the grip. Salem overpowered me and I was alone. No backup, no one nearby for me to cry for help, and no one to save me. He locked me up in what appeared to be a concrete room with a window behind me. I had bruises all over me from the fight with the guards. It was very cold because it was night time. They kept me there for a few hours at least that's what it felt like to me. Then Salem came in to "speak" with me. _

_I didn't count how many time he hit me. He hit so fast I couldn't. It was a long time before he stopped. I could tell because when he started it was dark and when he stopped there was a strong beam of light shining through the window. A whole night of torture and he didn't ask me one single question. Days went by with no food or water. It was a consistent torture. After, what I believe to be two days. I was given a bowl of brown liquid. I was told to drink it. I was so hungry I didn't even notice what it was. _

Tony set the journal on his lap and took a breath. He was having a lot of trouble reading this part of her story.

_The next week went as usual full of torture and two days later food and water. After the first week I planned my first escape. On the second week when they gave me my first batch of food, I drink the liquid and used the medal bowl as my weapon. When they opened the door to retrieve the bowl I hit the guard as forcefully as I could and ran. I got about ten feet before someone hit me behind the head and I feel to the ground unconscious. _

_I woke up the next morning in the same room but something was different. While I was asleep they had strapped me to a hospital bed. I had wires hooked onto my arms, legs, head, and chest. It didn't take them long to realize I was awake. Salem came in with a man in a white coat. The doctor walked past me to a medal box with switches on it. Salem asked me his first question that day. _

"_Who do you work for?" I remember it so clearly. _

_I didn't answer for any of his questions and the doctor processed on electrocuting me. Each time I refused to answer the doctor hit me with a higher volt. I could feel it all over my body. I twisted and turned unwillingly. Salem laughed at my pain. He said if I simply answered it would be much easier, but I knew that was a lie. Nothing is easy when you betray someone. I took the torture. At first I screamed a lot but I lost my voice from the strain and it was pointless to try any longer so I stopped. At the end of the second week I planned my second escape and just like the first I was caught. _

_The third week was worst. Salem and his men hung me from the ceiling from my wrists. It had been so long that I had been up there that I had lost complete feeling in my shoulders and arms. Salem's men continued to torture me by wiping me with leather ropes that they use on animals. I guess that's what I was to them an animal. I expected the wipes to leave scares and amazingly they didn't. Even without scares, though, I can still feel the sharp sting f the leather against my skin. _

Tony set the journal down again. He didn't understand how he could look at crime scene photos and all these terrible things but he couldn't read Ziva's words. Tony thought to himself a bit and realized that this wasn't just another victim this was Ziva and that's was making it so hard for him. He took several breaths before continuing.

_The fourth week I thought I would go crazy. I wanted to get out. I wanted to be free. I think that's when I started to grasp the idea that I was wrong with Tony. I started thinking of my life at NCIS and it's funny that not once did I ever think about my time in Israel. I could only think of Gibbs and his strong passion for protection. Then my thoughts were pulled toward McGee and his amazing ability with technology, as well as Abby who didn't like me at first but grew to like me. Then Ducky who had always been someone I could go to for advice and was always there for me when I needed his help. _

_I always thought of Tony last. He was the last person I wanted to think about before I closed my eyes in hell. Somehow even as I hung in the ceiling, or lay strapped to a bed, or sat straight in a chair I always felt better when I thought of Tony. He jokes which were so annoying to me before had become a comfort to me now. His way of referencing everything to a movie which was so irritating to me before was now placing a smile on my face. I always wondered what movie he would have referenced in my situation. That thought always kept me entertained. When the torture techniques became worse I would run through every moment I had ever been through with him. _

_I thought of every joke, every reference, and every smile he gave me. I think that kept me alive. I don't know if it did, but if Tony didn't keep me alive he did make my stay in hell bearable. I sometimes wished, when I was in that cell, that I could see him and tell him I was grateful for everything. I thought to myself maybe one day I will have the chance. Throughout those months I prayed I would die, but at the same time I hoped I wouldn't. I wanted to see Tony again I wanted to tell him the truth. I wanted to apologize and thank him. I wanted to be his partner again. _

Tony couldn't believe what he was reading, but as much as he wanted to set the book down he couldn't. He had to keep reading.

_The last month of my stay in hell had come and I had lost faith in my father. I knew he wouldn't come for me. And I was painfully aware that Tony was probably living his life with no problem. I always thought he forgot about me. All those months that had gone by I started to believe I lost him forever. He moved on with his life. That's why I was so surprised when I saw him sitting tied to that chair in front of me. For the first time in a long time I felt alive. _

_I was so painfully happy. __I wish he hadn't have come for me. I wish he wouldn't have seen me that way, but somehow I have a feeling it was meant to be that way. I feel as if he shouldn't have been there, but if he never came I would have been worse off than what I am now. I am grateful for his efforts and above all, his love. If it weren't for Tony I would not be alive at all. If I were ever to have enough courage to tell him this I hope he could find somewhere in his heart to forgive me for everything and maybe be able to work as a team again. I need my team. I need them all. I need…him. _

Tony loosened his grip on Ziva's journal and it feel from his hands. He lifted his head in shock and looked in from of him. Tony's mind went blank for a long time. All he could think about was, "_I need…him_." Tony stood causing the journal to fall open on the floor. He didn't make any move to pick it up. He paced around the living a few times, which left track marks in the carpet.

Tony looked at Ziva's closed bedroom door and wondered if she was awake. He also wondered if she still felt the same way. Tony decided to look at Ziva's last entry and find out how she felt now after Ray and him and EJ. He picked up her journal flipped through it until he found her last entry, which was the day Ray had given Ziva a promise that Tony didn't know of…yet.

_I spoke with Ray today. I can't say I'm very excited about it. He gave me an engagement ring box that was empty. He claimed it was a promise that he would return. I think if he would have asked me to marry him I would have said no. I like Ray. I do, I like him a lot but there's someone else that I like a little more and perhaps love. I don't want to be with Ray, but he is such a good man that I don't want to let him down or crush his hopes. He has been good to me on occasion he has slipped but we all make mistakes. _

_Maybe it's that allusion again. If I have doubts about Ray I shouldn't be with him. But if the one I really want to be with is in love with someone else what's the point of being alone. If I have someone there who I can help for help and he will be there shouldn't I be with him? I guess my real question is, will he save me or will he move on? My gut says he wouldn't save me, and that there is only one person that would. I guess I'm hoping that same man that saved me a while ago will save me now again. If he did I wouldn't have to make the wrong choice on purpose. If only there was a knock on my door…_

Tony set the journal down on the glass coffee table with the words facing him. He was confused by what he had just read. He didn't understand what she meant by saving her. Tony stared at the last words she wrote trying to understand the meaning behind it.

_If only there was a knock on my door._

Tony looked up at Ziva's bedroom door, and didn't care for the meaning of the last entry anymore. He turned the door knob to her door and found her sound asleep in her bed. He stepped in and closed the door so no more light would spill in from the living room. Tony carefully made his way to the right side of Ziva's bed and slipped in. She didn't wake up as he expected her too. She was sleeping on her side, so Tony pushed his body against her back and wrapped his arms around her as gently as he could. Ziva awoke shocked by the movement.

"Shhh, Ziva it's just me."

"Tony, what are you-"Tony cut her off.

"You're welcome. I hope you can make the right choice now." He smiled and she didn't move.

After a few moments of silence Tony began to worry he had done something wrong, but he soon tossed the thought away when he felt Ziva snuggle against his tight embrace.

"I think I had already made up my mind a long time ago."

**Hope you enjoy it (I don't mean the torture part, but the writing part). I know it's very soapy but at least I haven't had them kiss or anything like that. Just think of this chapter as another night in Paris. Anyway thanks for your reviews I hope it wasn't too lovey dovey for you. **

**Agent T **


	34. Chapter 34

**Hey everyone, sorry I haven't posted a chapter in a while. I didn't know where I wanted to take my story, but now I got a pretty good idea. I thinking I'm probably going to end it soon. Thanks to my reviewers. Enjoy! **

**Agent T **

Ziva awoke nestled in a tight bundle of sheets that had become tough knots around her legs overnight. She made no effort to get out of bed, but she moved her arm where she expected to feel Tony sleeping like a rock. Her hand landed on a small pile of warm bed sheets. Ziva sat up and quickly scanned the room for any sign of Tony. When she didn't find any clues she made a sudden leap out of bed and opened her bedroom door. She took a calming breath when she found Tony lying on the couch with her black journal spread open across his chest. She quietly approached his comfortable body making a great effort to not make any sound. Alas, she arrived to his side and admired his peaceful sleep. Ziva couldn't help but wonder as to why he had left her bed in the middle on the night. The little black journal fell and rose to the rhythm of Tony's chest. This caught Ziva's interest. She slowly picked up the book without disturbing Tony. After closing the journal and setting it back in its place on the bookshelf she retrieved a few blankets from her bedroom. Ziva slowly placed the sheets over Tony making an attempt to cover him while not waking him. She failed. Tony felt the wind brush across his face when the sheets fell on him. He jumped to the unexpected sense. Ziva froze unknowing of his reaction.

"Ziva…" Tony said in a husky voice.

"Good morning Tony." Ziva replied with a smile.

When Tony didn't speak she continued,"How did you sleep? I woke up this morning and I found you on the couch."

"Oh yeah…It's just that I had only read the first and last page of your book and I couldn't sleep without reading more." Tony answered her question with a sheepish smile.

"Oh… I see." Ziva responded quietly.

He was intrigued by the disappointment in Ziva's eyes when she realized he had left her bed the night before.

"So, what's for breakfast?" He asked desperately trying to change the subject.

Tony saw as Ziva's emotions changed in a snap. She dropped her hold on the bed sheets she had placed over Tony and leisurely walked to the kitchen. He rose to follow her and suddenly remember the journal. Tony panicked when he couldn't find it.

"Ziva, have you seen your journal?" Ziva answered him from the kitchen.

"Yes, you fell asleep with it on your chest. I put it back in the bookshelf. Why?"

"I couldn't find it and, well…I wasn't finished reading it. Would you mind if I took it with me?" Tony knew he was entering dangerous territory, but he had honestly been so inquisitive about every entry he could seem to pull himself away from it.

Ziva flew out of the kitchen, which threw Tony off guard. She had in hand two strawberry strudels stacked on top of one another and in the other a tall clear glass of orange juice. She set it on the glass coffee table Tony had been standing by. After she set the items down on the table she answered Tony's pending question.

"Yes, you may, but be very careful with it." She waited for Tony to respond, but he only gave her a smile so she left.  
She poured another glass of orange juice in the kitchen and made her way to the living room where she found Tony munching on his strudel and reading her journal in the other hand. Ziva began to wonder if allowing him to borrow her journal was the right thing to do. She had only told him "yes" because she knew that he would have pestered her until she had said "yes." Ziva thought it was easier this way. Tony's curiosity was growing in a very intense manner, perhaps Ziva had made the right decision. She strode to his side and filled the vacant spot on the sofa next to him. He watched her every move though his peripheral vision and she noticed.

"Tony, can I ask you a question?" Ziva asked setting her orange juice on the coffee table next to his now half filled glass.  
"What's on your mind?" Tony asked.

"Why are you so interested in my journal?" There was a slight pause before Tony answered.

"Well…I mean…It's just, I've never really seen this part of you, and it's different. Different in a good way… I'm almost done." Tony closed the journal and set it down on the coffee table.

The night before he had a list full of questions he wanted to ask her, and he decided that it was now or never.

"Ziva, can I ask you a question?" Tony threw her words back at her.

"Hmm." Ziva replied.

Tony placed his strudel on the napkin Ziva had brought with the delicious pastry. He took a second to rearrange his thoughts and began.

"Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"Tell you what?" Ziva challenged.

"About what they did to you? How you felt? What was going through your mind? Why didn't you tell me?" Tony had lost all hope of controlling his curiosity and had turned his whole body to face her.  
She felt overwhelmed by the sudden change in him. Ziva took a second to think of the precise answer. It had to be a precise answer.

"I didn't want you to know." She responded quietly.

"WHY?" Tony begged.

Ziva didn't know how to answer his question. She was confused by her thoughts. There were so many reasons "why." Ziva decided to speak all the reasons she could think of.

"I didn't want you to see me differently. I didn't want you to think he had hurt me. I didn't want you to think I was changed. I wanted to believe I was fine. I wanted to believe I was strong enough. I wanted to hope. I needed to hope. I thought maybe…"

Ziva stopped and Tony pushed her.  
"Maybe…what?" Tony had moved from the couch to his knees and had placed his hands on Ziva's knees.

"I thought maybe everything would be a bad dream. That I'd wake up in my bed, safe and warm. Away from the heat of the desert. Away from the torture. Away from the cruelty." Ziva looked into his beautiful emerald eyes that seemed to have adapted a deeper shade of green with the excitement.

She returned to watching her hands. Ziva fiddled with her fingernail as she continued.

"I don't understand Tony. I really don't understand how people could be so…mean. I didn't want you to know. I thought it would be better that way. I thought if you knew…thing might change. I don't want anything to change. I don't want you to see me as weaker or…" Ziva was struggling with choosing the correct words.

Tony didn't push her any further. He moved his hand to caress her chin. She looked up and found his big beautiful eyes. Ziva had a strange feeling of happiness in the pit of her stomach. A simple peace she had never felt before. She felt as if there was nothing else to talk about. The torture didn't matter. The pain had no purpose. The purpose of the whole experience was to know who she could trust. She found that person. Ziva found closure.

"I found you." Ziva whispered, and Tony simply gave her a sweet smile.  
After a while of staring at each other they both reorganized themselves on the sofa and finished their breakfast. Once Ziva set the two empty glasses in the kitchen sink, the real trouble began.

**Hope you enjoyed it! I finished this at four in the morning so if there're so mistakes, that's why. I trust you'll excuse them. Feel free to review! Thanks!  
**

**Agent T**


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